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Escalating instability in Burundi is threatening regional prosperity, Kenya warned on Sunday, as deadly violence continued in the tiny African nation and a government deadline passed for opposition supporters to surrender their weapons or face a crackdown.
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The international community is becoming alarmed by the seven-month crisis in Burundi, where President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to engineer a third term for himself in contravention of national agreements prompted an attempted coup and widespread protests.
Hundreds of people have died in seemingly indiscriminate killings, mostly in the capital Bujumbura, as Mr Nkurunziza seeks to suppress opposition to his extended rule. The UN has said many of the victims were either shot at close range or showed signs of torture. Tens of thousands have fled the country.
The International Crisis Group, a research organisation, warned last week the language being used by Burundian government politicians was "chillingly similar to that used in Rwanda in the 1990s before the genocide", during which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis on Monday.
Manoah Esipisu, a spokesman for Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's president, said on Sunday that "for east Africa to prosper there has to be stability" in all its members. "When there are signs of instability in any one of us, that threatens prosperity, it threatens investments, it threatens the political life of us all," he said.
Burundi is one of the poorer members of the East African Community, the regional intergovernmental organisation that includes Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
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Mr Esipisu joined other governments in condemning the language being used by Mr Nurunziza, who warned that the police would be ordered to "get to work" on opposition supporters, who risked being treated "as enemies of the nation" if they did not hand in weapons by Saturday at midnight. "That type of rhetoric helps no one," Mr Esipisu said.
Rwandan president Paul Kagame gave a speech highly critical of Mr Nkurunziza on Friday, accusing him of failing Burundians.
"No one knows where he is, no one can talk to him. How does he lead his people?" Mr Kagame said, according to recordings circulated on Sunday. "People are dying every day, dead bodies are being dragged on the streets every day."
Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, on Friday quoted Reverien Ndikuriyo, the leader of Burundi's Senate, as telling officials: "You have to pulverise, you have to exterminate - these people are only good for dying."
Thierry Vercoulon, ICG's central Africa project director, said he did not think Mr Nkurunziza and his cohort would heed the calls for restraint. "The people who are in power are the radicals in the ruling party and they've adopted a radical posture," he said. "They don't want to listen."
Philippe Nzobonariba, a Burundian government spokesman, dismissed the warning of further violence, saying Ms Power had "never been in favour of the government's initiatives".
"She has never been concerned about the barbaric acts committed by their friends, the insurgents," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Police officers and government politicians are among those killed in recent months but the vast majority have been either opposition supporters or seemingly innocent civilians. At least nine people, including one UN employee, were killed by unidentified gunmen in an attack on a bar on Saturday night, news agencies reported.
Burundian officials said on Sunday house-to-house searches for weapons had begun, but no violence was reported.
Mr Nkurunziza justified a third term by saying he was not elected to his first term but chosen by legislators. A Burundian court endorsed his claim, despite the two-term limit being part of 2005 peace agreements that ended a 12-year civil war.
Source: ft.com
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The international community is becoming alarmed by the seven-month crisis in Burundi, where President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to engineer a third term for himself in contravention of national agreements prompted an attempted coup and widespread protests.
Hundreds of people have died in seemingly indiscriminate killings, mostly in the capital Bujumbura, as Mr Nkurunziza seeks to suppress opposition to his extended rule. The UN has said many of the victims were either shot at close range or showed signs of torture. Tens of thousands have fled the country.
The International Crisis Group, a research organisation, warned last week the language being used by Burundian government politicians was "chillingly similar to that used in Rwanda in the 1990s before the genocide", during which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis on Monday.
Manoah Esipisu, a spokesman for Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's president, said on Sunday that "for east Africa to prosper there has to be stability" in all its members. "When there are signs of instability in any one of us, that threatens prosperity, it threatens investments, it threatens the political life of us all," he said.
Burundi is one of the poorer members of the East African Community, the regional intergovernmental organisation that includes Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article.
Mr Esipisu joined other governments in condemning the language being used by Mr Nurunziza, who warned that the police would be ordered to "get to work" on opposition supporters, who risked being treated "as enemies of the nation" if they did not hand in weapons by Saturday at midnight. "That type of rhetoric helps no one," Mr Esipisu said.
Rwandan president Paul Kagame gave a speech highly critical of Mr Nkurunziza on Friday, accusing him of failing Burundians.
"No one knows where he is, no one can talk to him. How does he lead his people?" Mr Kagame said, according to recordings circulated on Sunday. "People are dying every day, dead bodies are being dragged on the streets every day."
Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, on Friday quoted Reverien Ndikuriyo, the leader of Burundi's Senate, as telling officials: "You have to pulverise, you have to exterminate - these people are only good for dying."
Thierry Vercoulon, ICG's central Africa project director, said he did not think Mr Nkurunziza and his cohort would heed the calls for restraint. "The people who are in power are the radicals in the ruling party and they've adopted a radical posture," he said. "They don't want to listen."
Philippe Nzobonariba, a Burundian government spokesman, dismissed the warning of further violence, saying Ms Power had "never been in favour of the government's initiatives".
"She has never been concerned about the barbaric acts committed by their friends, the insurgents," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Police officers and government politicians are among those killed in recent months but the vast majority have been either opposition supporters or seemingly innocent civilians. At least nine people, including one UN employee, were killed by unidentified gunmen in an attack on a bar on Saturday night, news agencies reported.
Burundian officials said on Sunday house-to-house searches for weapons had begun, but no violence was reported.
Mr Nkurunziza justified a third term by saying he was not elected to his first term but chosen by legislators. A Burundian court endorsed his claim, despite the two-term limit being part of 2005 peace agreements that ended a 12-year civil war.
Source: ft.com
