DATE=2/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BURUNDI REBEL FIGHTING (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259095
BYLINE=TODD PITMAN
DATELINE=BUJUMBURA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Fighting has broken out in Burundi between
Burundian and Rwandan rebels, leaving hundreds of
people dead. As Todd Pitman reports from Bujumbura,
the two rebel groups used to be close allies.
TEXT: Fishermen and army officials say at least 19
people have been killed in the latest round of
fighting between Burundian and Rwandan rebels just
west of Bujumbura.
Witnesses say bodies -- some tied-up, others
decapitated -- began appearing three days ago in the
Rusizi river, which flows into Lake Tanganyika about
10 kilometers west of the capital.
An Army spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Longin Minani,
says all the dead were Rwandan rebels. He says they
were executed in a forest further to the north and
thrown into the river by Burundian rebels from
Palipehutu, one of several groups fighting against the
government.
Local fishermen say they spotted at least 15 bodies in
the river on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, four
more bodies could be seen in the delta.
It is not clear what triggered the latest violence
between the two Hutu rebel groups, which have fought
together for years against Tutsis in both Rwanda and
Burundi. But army sources say a desire by Rwandan
rebels in Burundi to return to their own country with
weapons may have sparked the conflict.
Colonel Minani says fierce clashes between the two
rebel groups first broke out earlier this month in
hills to the east of Bujumbura.
Army commanders say more than 200 rebels have already
been killed in that area. (SIGNED)
NEB/TP/JP
12-Feb-2000 13:38 PM EDT (12-Feb-2000 1838 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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