Burundi President Imposes Controls

In a bid to diminish ethnic violence, Burundi’s president has banned all political meetings, imposed censorship and asked the nation’s Parliament for power to rule by decree until October.

The National Assembly met in special session Monday to consider President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya’s request.

The assembly also will decide whether judicial committees should be established to investigate crimes committed since the nation’s upsurge in violence began 20 months ago.

Burundi’s Hutus and Tutsis have been killing each other over political supremacy since the country gained independence from Belgium in 1962. The bloodshed mirrors that in neighboring Rwanda, where as many as 1 million people, mostly Tutsis, died in ethnic slaughter last year.

Ntibantunganya, a Hutu, announced the measures in a radio broadcast late Sunday along with sweeping restrictions on travel, political activities and the media.

Ntibantunganya’s plan drew mixed reactions. Some said a strong move against ethnic violence was long overdue; others questioned whether the president could carry it out.