A senior official in Burundi has appealed to people in the capital Bujumbura not to panic following killings near the city earlier this week.

Speaking on national radio and TV, defence ministry official Isaie Nibizi told residents to remain vigilant, but reassured them that the city was well guarded.

Hundreds of people are reported to have fled to Bujumbura following recent attacks nearby in which more than a hundred civilians were killed. The authorities have blamed Hutu rebels for the killings.

Below is a round-up of reports from Burundian media sources covering the events of recent days:

Burundi: Official urges Bujumbura residents not to panic

Excerpts from report by Burundi radio on 7th January

After the attack yesterday [Tuesday] on the military post in Maramvya [near Bujumbura], the final toll of 15 rebels killed and three soldiers wounded is now confirmed. Lt-Col Isaie Nibizi, the director-general of social promotion and communications at the National Defence Ministry, confirmed this when speaking to Guy Karema [phonetic] of the TV station...

Given the panic seen over the last few days in the capital, Bujumbura, [Lt-]Col Isaie Nibizi believes this was a campaign to spread confusion, and advises the population not to play into the enemy's hands:

[Nibizi - recording] ... I urge Bujumbura residents to remain vigilant, to remain really vigilant, but not to give way to panic.

We have here, in the town of Bujumbura, sufficient security forces. The town is very well guarded. The town's suburbs are very well patrolled, very well guarded. The town itself has a large number of military posts, gendarmes and policemen.

The only thing which the population must do is remain vigilant - this is a must - and inform the relevant authorities of anything unusual...

Source: Radio Burundi, Bujumbura, in French 1800 gmt 7 Jan 98

Burundi: Hundreds flee killing zone heading for Bujumbura

Excerpt from report by Burundi radio on 6th January

Hundreds of people are reported to have been fleeing to the northern suburb of Kinama here in the capital, Bujumbura.

Most of them are survivors of the Rukaramu massacre who had fled to the village of Maramvya.

According to the fleeing people, rebels attacked this morning a military post near the village of Maramvya [near Bujumbura], forcing villagers to take refuge at Kinama ...

Source: Radio Burundi, Bujumbura, in English 1130 gmt 6 Jan 98

Burundi: Rukaramu massacre survivors face disease, lack of shelter

Excerpts from report by Burundi radio on 5th January

The recent Rukaramu massacre has resulted in some of its displaced survivors arriving at Maramvya or at the Holiday Club [in Bujumbura].

Our colleagues went to the scene to check on the prevailing living conditions. Not much assistance has apparently reached them, while diseases have already started breaking out. Moise Gahunga reports:

[Gahunga] ... Among the displaced, we observed people suffering from headaches and malaria under a sun too scorching for children sleeping in the open air. During our visit, only Medecins sans Frontieres was on site preparing shelters and premises, but still without equipment or drugs...

Source: Radio Burundi, Bujumbura, in French 1100 gmt 5 Jan 98

Burundi: Hutu rebels call for international commission of inquiry into killings

The [Hutu rebel] National Council for the Defence of Democracy, CNDD, has called for the setting up of an international commission of inquiry into "the massacre of civilians in Burundi", Burundian Umwizero radio reported on 7th January, without giving any further details.

Source: Radio Umwizero, Bujumbura, in French 1630 gmt 7 Jan 98 v

Burundian leader Buyoya calls for regional action against "extremists"

Excerpts from report by Burundi radio on 5th January

The 211 people massacred atrociously by armed gangs at Rukaramu [near Bujumbura] on New Year's Eve were officially buried yesterday [4th January]. The funeral was attended by the president of the republic, Maj Pierre Buyoya, cabinet members and a number of ambassadors representing the international community...

In his message during the funeral, Maj Pierre Buyoya urged political party leaders and all Burundians to clearly dissociate themselves from the criminal gangs by unambiguously condemning their acts of terrorism.

He called on the international community to drop its traditional wait-and-see attitude while crimes were being perpetrated by terrorist gangs.

President Buyoya expressed the view that it was sickening to be confronted by the fact that the leaders of these gangs could move freely in various countries, enjoy various forms of assistance and have access to the international media to promote their anti-Burundian campaigns.

Maj Pierre Buyoya went on to say that it was also amazing that some personalities, purportedly working to bring about a settlement to the Burundian issue, deliberately opted to remain silent in the face of the tragedy brought about by the extremist gangs.

While initially the Tutsis were the primary targets of the death machine, said President Buyoya, the armed criminals had gradually turned against Hutus opposed to their sinister undertakings, culminating in a real campaign to exterminate the Hutus in Bubanza, Cibitoke [all in northwestern Burundi], Bururi [southern Burundi] and Bujumbura-Rural [western Burundi] Provinces...

President Buyoya said the observed facts showed that in the Great Lakes Region there was a coalition of criminal gangs scattered in the region who believed in the ideology and practice of genocide.

Those who were perpetrating the massacres in Burundi included the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide and members of the armed forces of former Zaire, Maj Buyoya noted.

In the Burundian president's view, the time has come for the countries of the region to make joint efforts to engage in a common fight against the extremist groups.

Source: Radio Burundi, Bujumbura, in French 1100 gmt 5 Jan 98

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
 

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