More Than 5,000 Flee Fighting in Burundi
By ALOYS NIYOYITA
.c The Associated Press
BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) - Fighting between government soldiers and Hutu rebels has forced more than 5,000 people to flee their homes in the hills surrounding the capital of Bujumbura, a government official said Tuesday.
The fighting between the Tutsi-dominated army and the rebel National Liberation Forces, or FNL, broke out Monday, said Ignace Ntawembarira, the governor of Bujumbura Rurale province.
It was not clear if there were any casualties.
``They (government troops) have been launching rockets on our positions since yesterday, we suffered no losses,'' said FNL spokesman Pasteur Habimana. ``We defended ourselves after the army attacked our positions.''
An army officer, however, said the fighting began after the FNL attacked villagers who had taken food to government soldiers. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been no army casualties.
The FNL is one of four Hutu rebel factions, but it is the only group that has refused to told direct talks with Burundi's transitional government.
Earlier Tuesday, a government delegation departed for South Africa to hold talks with the Forces for the Defense of Democracy, or FDD - the largest rebel group fighting in a decade-long civil war in the country.
The talks are to cover the FDD's representation in the senate, a temporary amnesty for rebel leaders who return from exile, the transformation of the group into a political party, and the composition of the army.
Earlier this month, President Domitien Ndayizeye and FDD leader Peter Nkurunziza reached agreement on power-sharing in the parliament and the command structure of a new army and police.
More than 200,000 people - mostly civilians - have been killed in the conflict since it erupted in October 1993 after Tutsi paratroopers assassinated the country's first democratically elected leader, a Hutu. Although in the minority, Tutsis have effectively controlled the country for all but a few months since independence in 1962.
The FDD signed a cease-fire agreement with the government in December, but both the insurgents and the army accused each other of violating the accord and fighting continued.
The two smaller rebel factions signed cease-fires last October.
Ndayizeye heads a transitional government that took office in November 2001 and was supposed to implement peace agreements to end the war. The first president was a Tutsi, and he handed over power in May to Ndayizeye, a Hutu, for the final 18 months.
10/28/03 12:01 EST
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