DATE=10/13/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BURUNDI / U-N (L-O)
NUMBER=2-254968
BYLINE=JENNIFER WIENS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations has suspended all
activities in Burundi following the murder of two U-N
officials by Hutu rebels. Jennifer Wiens in Nairobi
has more from V-O-A's East Africa Bureau.
TEXT: U-N officials say (Wednesday) that all relief
activities in Burundi are on hold for at least three
days, after an ethnic-Hutu rebel shot and killed two
U-N aid workers. The World Food Program's (W-F-P)
Michele Quintaglie says the United Nations is
reassessing its operations in Burundi in the aftermath
of the deaths.
/// ACT QUINTAGLIE ///
As of today, U-N activities in Burundi are
continuing to be suspended. That will continue
until the weekend (through Friday), by which
time we will have to make a decision about how
we will continue to operate in Burundi, -- given
the deteriorating circumstances we are operating
in, the constant security problems, the
violence, and the sort of incidents that
continue to affect aid workers.
/// END ACT ///
The U-N workers and several other people were killed
Tuesday as they visited a displaced person's camp in
southwest Burundi. Hutu rebel fighters reportedly
opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying a group
of relief officials. The rebels killed four Burundian
soldiers who were escorting the group, robbed some of
the U-N workers, and then lined them up against a
wall.
Then, witnesses say, one of the rebels put his gun to
the head of Luis Zuniga, a 52 year old Chilean with
UNICEF (the U-N Children's Fund), and pulled the
trigger. The same rebel then went to Saskia von
Meijenfeldt, a 34-year-old Dutch official with the W-
F-P, and executed her also. The shootings caused a
commotion and the other aid officials managed to
escape.
Six Burundi civilians were also killed in the attack,
and several others wounded.
/// OPT /// The World Food Program's Michele
Quintaglie says the murders of the two officials have
shaken the international aid community.
/// ACT QUINTAGLIE // OPT ACT ///
We are currently organizing memorial services
for the two people. Family members are being
flown into Nairobi, and this is what we are
focusing on right now. And a lot of aid
agencies and aid workers are in a moment of
grieving for these two people.
/// END OPT ACT // END OPT ///
The aid officials were on a tour to assess the needs
of thousands of Burundians who have been herded into
refugee camps by the army. The army says the camps
are necessary to protect people from rebel attacks and
to make sure that villagers are not supplying rebels
with food and other support.
Extremists from Burundi's ethnic-Hutu majority have
been battling the minority Tutsi-dominated army for
six years. About 200-thousand people, mainly
civilians have died in the conflict. Hundreds-of-
thousands more have been displaced, many into the
temporary camps loosely managed by the army.
/// REMAINDER OPT ///
But aid officials say conditions in many of the camps
are bad, with little food, water, or medical care
available. The World Food Program has been supplying
food to some of the camps, and W-F-P's Michele
Quintaglie says despite this latest attack, aid
agencies will probably continue to work in Burundi.
/// ACT QUINTAGLIE ///
We know that there are people in Burundi who
cannot survive without this life-saving
assistance going into these areas, so we are not
going to pull out, but we are clearly going to
have to re-evaluate how we operate in this
environment.
/// END ACT ///
U-N agencies instituted a similar suspension and re-
evaluation of activities in Somalia last month, after
a Somali doctor on assignment with UNICEF was killed
by gunmen. (SIGNED)
NEB/JW/GE/ENE/RAE
13-Oct-1999 10:26 AM EDT (13-Oct-1999 1426 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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