Chris McGreal in Johannesburg
Foreign envoys attempting to bring an end to the civil war in Burundi believe it may be about to invade Tanzania to hit Hutu rebel bases which have swollen with fighters driven from eastern Zaire.
Officials fear Burundi’s overwhelmingly Tutsi army will strike into Tanzania before long in an attempt to prevent the largest rebel group ‘ the National Council for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD) led by Burundi’s former interior minister, Leonard Nyangoma ‘ from re-establishing a foothold after it was routed from Zaire.
United Nations special envoy Raymond Chretien, EU envoy Aldo Ajello and UN human rights commissioner Jose Ayala Lasso have all visited Burundi in recent weeks. Senior officials among the parties said they sensed a new bullishness within Burundi’s army after it joined the Rwandan-led invasion to clear the Hutu refugee camps in Zaire.
‘There are some very worrying signals that the army intends to strike against CNDD bases in Tanzania. After the success against the refugee camps in eastern Zaire, the army does not want to let the rebels off the hook. But it wouldn’t be like going into Zaire. The Tanzanian army will not stand by. I think there is a real possibility we will see the Burundian and Tanzanian armies fighting before long. The question is where it leads,’ one official said.
Burundi’s military leader, Major Pierre Buyoya, has accused the Tanzanian government of turning a blind eye to the growing CNDD presence on its soil.
After a meeting last month with former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, who is attempting to mediate an end to Burundi’s civil war, Buyoya said he was ‘concerned’ about deteriorating relations.
Tanzania denies it is giving shelter to the CNDD. Tanzania’s defence minister, Edgar Maokola Majogo, has warned that any incursion will cost the Burundian army dearly.
‘Any nation or group which will threaten the lives of Tanzanians or plans to launch an attack in Tanzanian territory will militarily be wiped out,’ he said.