Citation
BUJUMBURA, Nov 3 (AFP) - Burundi's regional army chiefs have told Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi their troops oppose any deployment of foreign troops here after last month's military coup bid, government sources said Wednesday.
The military commanders themselves "saw no problem with the arrival of an international protection force, but the troops were opposing this," one source said.
Kinigi was holding more talks Wednesday, time with senior civil servants and officials, after a closed-door meeting Tuesday with the military chiefs and provincial governors.
Wednesday's session, like Tuesday's, was being held at the Kigobe conference center in a suburb of the capital Bujumbura.
The prime minister, who on Tuesday left the French embassy where she had sought protection since the October 21 attempted coup, was holding the talks in a bid to try to resolve the crisis politically and restore confidence among a terrified population.
Government sources have said the situation remains tense amid reports of continuing sporadic clashes between the majority Hutus and the Tutsis who dominate the army, from certain provinces of this small highland national in central Africa.
Officials have sought firm army support after military units killed Burundi's first Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, and several government members, touching off ethnic violence in which thousands are believed to have died.
More than 600,000 people fled the countryside to Rwanda, Tanzania and Zaire to escape the massacres.
Government spokesman Jean-Marie Ngendahayo said Wednesday there were some differences of opinion at Tuesday's meeting as governors and regional army commanders each gave a rundown on their sector, though he did not elaborate.
