wfn.org | ACNS3510 Anglicans unite as Burundi's capital encounters

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3510     |     BURUNDI	|     15 JULY 2003 

Anglicans unite as Burundi's capital encounters attacks

by Matthew Davies and Anglican sources in Burundi 

Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, was subject to sustained attacks from the
National Liberation Forces (FNL) from Mon 7 July until Saturday 13 July.
The attacks by the Hutu rebel group aimed to terrorise the city with
automatic weapons and grenades and a spokesman for the FNL is quoted as
saying, "We are coming to Bujumbura and we are going to stay there until
our Tutsi brothers agree to negotiate directly with us". The Army
responded with the use of armoured vehicles, heavy machine guns and
helicopters that dropped bombs over the hillsides. 

An official Anglican source in Bujumbura said that "the FNL are driven
by a Protestant Christian ideology claiming that the Hutus have a divine
right over the country. For them the only viable negotiating partners
are the Tutsi commanders of the Army and the Tutsi politicians." 

Main roads into the city were closed with checkpoints monitoring access
from outlying quarters. Specific places were targeted for attack but
there was also indiscriminate fire and consequently civilians were
caught in the crossfire. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
reported on Friday that "the fighting between the army and the FNL
rebels, mainly in the city's southern suburbs, had led to the
displacement of at least 15,000 people from Kanyosha, Musaga and Kinindo
communes." 

One group of rebels spent a night in the Anglican Church in Kinindo and
another in the Church in Musaga, the latter of which was damaged by
gunfire. 

The Anglican Community Centre gave refuge to 6 families - mostly women
and children - and seven families from the diocesan office were directly
affected because they live in Musaga, one of the worst affected areas.
All are safe and have returned home. 

Bujumbura diocese was able to distribute 1100 French sticks (loaves) to
displaced people in four locations. Parts of town were periodically
without electricity and water but both are now re-connected. 

As the fighting drew to a close the rebels, who had been shelling the
city for about a week, released 39 hostages they had held captive. 

The Episcopal Church in Burundi ask for your prayers, especially that
the President, Government and Senate will have great wisdom as they
respond to the situation. A representative of the diocese said, "Pray
for our continued safety. I have found Psalm 91 and 46 a great
encouragement. Today we shared Ps. 116 as our thanksgiving to God."

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