wfn.org | Attempted coup in Burundi

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3085 notes).

Note 3085 by UMNS on July 25, 1996 at 16:20 Eastern (5275 characters).

SEARCH: Burundi, bishop, violence, United Methodist, Ndoricimpa
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CONTACT: Linda Green                              371(10-71){3085}
         Nashville,Tenn. (615) 742-5470              July 25, 1996

An attempted coup, renewed fighting in Burundi
complicate bishop's hope of returning home

by United Methodist News Service
     

     An attempted coup against the president of Burundi July 24
complicates the hope of United Methodist Bishop J. Alfred Ndoricimpa
returning to the church's headquarters in that country, according to
an official at the General Board of Global Ministries in New York.
     Doreen F. Tilghman, assistant general secretary for Africa and
the Middle East, said the attempted coup doesn't change the bishop's
exiled status but affects his hope to go to his home in Gitega, the
seat of the United Methodist Church in Burundi.
     Ndoricimpa -- in exile in Nairobi, Kenya, since 1993 -- is
attempting to minister to the more than 40,000 United Methodists in
Burundi from his current location. He will not return permanently to
his home in Burundi until the country has a more secure peace. 
     Tilghman said Ndoricimpa is in constant communication with
Burundian United Methodists and provides the pastors and laity there
with financial assistance to perform their ministries.
     Donations for this work are being received by the Board of
Global Ministries through the Bishops' Appeal for Africa, Advance
Special No. 101275-4. The World Council of Churches and other
agencies, through ACT International are also providing humanitarian
and pastoral support to Burundi.
     According to Tilghman, Ndoricimpa was attempting to bring
United Methodists to Kenya to have their annual conference session
this week but "we have not heard if they were able to get to there
for annual conference and we have not spoken with them." 
     The morning after the apparent coup, Tilghman was waiting for
a call of confirmation that the conference session is being held.
      The population of Burundi is approximately 6 million,
including 85 percent Hutu and 14 percent Tutsi.
     Ethnic violence between the majority Hutus and the Tutsi who
control the military has been going on since Burundi President
Melchoir Ndadye, a Hutu, was assassinated in 1993. The country has
been torn by violence between the two tribes since it gained
independence from Belgium in 1962.
     On July 24, Burundi's Tutsi-led army surrounded government
building's in the Burundi capital of Bujumbura, causing the Hutu
president, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, to flee and take refuge at the
home of the U.S Ambassador. The president also urged his countrymen
not to succumb to attempts to seize power by force.
     A July 25 Associated Press report indicated that the Burundi
president faced pressure from a Tutsi-dominated political party that
called for his ouster. The press also quoted Mames Bansubibko, a
closer advisor to the president, as saying the president feared for
his life and that his security forces were not responding to his
request.
     Reports of new fighting and massacres are emerging throughout
Burundi. Recently 300 people were massacred in the region
surrounding the United Methodist Church headquarters.
     The Rev. Michael Davis, an official with the World Council of
Churches (WCC), has condemned the massacres and the killing of at
least 15,000 people, mainly women and children, since the ethnic
conflict began. 
     In a July 25 WCC news release, Davis called on the United
Nations to intervene. He is requesting the United Nations, the
European Union and the Organization of African Unity to "speed up
their efforts to provide protection for the most vulnerable people
and to demand and help enforce a ceasefire and a negotiated solution
to this conflict."
     Since the recent coup attempt, Bansubibko was quoted by the
Associated Press as saying "the most important thing right now is to
make sure the population in Burundi will not start killing each
other."
     Durng a speech to the International Peace Academy last month,
Ndoricimpa articulated a dream of peace and his belief that the two
African tribes can live together like other tribes elsewhere in the
world. He said his dream is that Burundi would be a country where
"all citizens can live in justice, unity, peace and with security
for all."
     The bishop also has been under scrutiny from the U.S. State
Department. He was denied a visa to enter the United States to
attend the recent United Methodist General Conference in Denver
because of accusations of running arms.
     He spoke to conference delegates by telephone, telling them of
the troubles in his country and how United Methodist church members
there are coping.
     Conference delegates issued a "profound apology" to Ndoricimpa. 
Following the conference, a delegation was sent to the White House
to explore several concerns of the delegates.  During that meeting,
the United Methodist representatives were assured that the matter of
the visa denial would be investigated.
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