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KIGALI, Dec 27 (AFP) - Rwanda's Foreign Minister Casimir Bizimungu has accused Burundi of failing to honour commitments concerning the interrogation of 228 Rwandans who fled to their embassy after an insurrection.
Bizimungu said on Rwanda Radio late Thursday that the Burundi government was breaking an agreement about questioning the Rwandans, accused of involvement in fighting that left some 300 dead in the Burundi capital Bujumbura and the northwest of the country early in December.
Rwandan diplomats had not been allowed to witness the interrogation of their nationals, who went to the embassy last week after Burundi authorities said troops had clashed with insurgents "from outside the country", implicitly blaming Rwanda for supporting the rebels.
Burundi security forces were systematically searching Rwandan diplomatic staff and had refused to let a medical team enter the country as part of a delegation, Bizimungu said.
Burundi had also agreed to let the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) monitor the interrogations and allow the Rwandan nationals, described as illegal immigrants, back into the embassy for repatriation once they had been questioned and indentified.
The trouble between the small central African states, both populated by Hutus and Tutsi peoples, arose after Burundi said the fighting was started by members of the Hutu liberation party PalipeHutu, with a view to stirring up "racial hatred" between the two communities.
mgu-dl/nb/ss AFP AFP SEQN-0164
