Burundi Won’t Talk to Rebels Until Sanctions Are Lifted, Premier Says

The military government will not talk with Hutu rebels until neighboring countries lift their trade sanctions, Burundi’s prime minister said Monday.

Last weekend, East African leaders at a summit in Tanzania refused to ease the sanctions, imposed on Burundi after retired Maj. Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, seized power in a coup July 25. They gave him one month to sit down to unconditional talks with rebels or face even tighter sanctions, and Buyoya agreed.

Monday’s comments by Prime Minister Pascal Firmin Ndimira appeared designed to appease extremist members of the Tutsi-dominated army who oppose any deals with the Hutu rebels.

“The government is ready and agrees to negotiate with armed factions, but not in the context of the blockade,” Ndimira told reporters. “As long as the blockade is in place, there is no way Burundi will negotiate.”

Meanwhile, in Zaire, nearly 20,000 Burundian Hutus who fled their refugee camp in an eastern province after it was attacked by ethnic Tutsis have resettled in nearby camps, aid sources said Monday.

“Runingo camp is almost empty, with only a few hundred refugees left. The others have reached other camps and are trying to stay with friends or relatives,” said a foreign aid worker in Burundi who was in touch with neighboring Zaire.