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Rebels justify recent hostage taking

    NAIROBI

    A spokesman for the rebel Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD), Jerome Ndiho, has said the group’s main objective in kidnapping six aid workers from the MEMISA-COPED organisation last week was “to make them understand that they should ask for permission before entering areas under the control of our organisation”. He told the BBC Kirundi service the FDD was “satisfied” with its move, which made aid workers “understand that they should have an agreement with political officials in the area and that they should assist all Burundians without discrimination”.

    The six NGO workers, including four women, were abducted in the southern province of Makamba on Friday where they had been distributing medicines. The FDD rebels took them to Tanzania.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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