Archbishop Feared Killed in Ambush

Burundi’s Roman Catholic archbishop was missing and feared dead at the hands of Hutu rebels after soldiers found the burned-out husk of his car, some blood and the charred body of one of his six passengers. The Tutsi-led military government blamed the rebels for the ambush and apparent slaying Monday afternoon of Joachim Ruhuna, whose official title is archbishop of Gitega. Ruhuna, 62, is a Tutsi known for openly criticizing both Hutu and Tutsi extremists. A witness, identified by authorities only as a church deacon, told the military that he discovered the car while it was still ablaze. He said he saw the bodies of Ruhuna, his driver, two nuns, a church accountant and two children inside the burning car but was unable to get them out, military officials said. The witness went to a nearby village for help. When he returned later with soldiers, the bodies had been removed from the car--except for that of a nun from Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity religious order.