Ethnic Violence Flares Anew In Burundi; Residents Flee Murder Of Legislator, Family Sparks Refugee Wave Toward Neighboring Zaire

More than 500 residents of a Burundi border town have fled to neighboring Zaire since a member of parliament was murdered there three days ago, a U.N. refugee official said Saturday.

Legislator Bibianne Ntamutumbu, several family members and neighbors were killed in the attack Thursday, said Paul Stromberg of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Stromberg is based in Rwanda, Burundi’s northern neighbor.

Since the murder in the town of Rugombo, just a few miles east of the border, residents have been fleeing to Zaire, Stromberg said.

It was not clear whether Zaire had closed its border to prevent Burundians from entering. Earlier this week, Burundian troops closed their side of the border with Zaire.

Zaire already houses 1.7 million refugees from Rwanda, where violence between Hutus and Tutsis left about 500,000 people dead in 1994.

Burundi has the same ethnic mix as Rwanda - about 85 percent Hutu, 14 percent Tutsi and 1 percent Twa.

Fighting between Burundi’s army and rebels along the Zaire border north of Lake Tanganyika has intensified in recent weeks, driving more than 3,000 people into Zaire in the last 10 days, Stromberg said. More than 185,000 Burundians already live in refugee camps in neighboring countries.

Speaking on Radio Burundi, Sylvestre Mvutse, governor of the border province of Citiboke, blamed Zaire-based Hutu rebels for the killings. He did not provide other details, including the number of victims.

Zaire-based Burundian rebels of the National Council for Democracy and Development denied involvement and accused the predominately Tutsi army of the murders.

Fearing assassination by Tutsi extremists, many Hutu members of the 81-seat national assembly live in Zaire and commute to Burundi’s capital for semi-annual parliamentary sessions.

U.N. security sources said fighting flared for several hours in Burundi’s capital of Bujumbura Friday night.

More than 100,000 people have died since October 1993 when paratroopers kidnapped and killed Burundi’s first democratically elected Hutu president.

Many Tutsis have taken refuge in towns with military posts, and the Tutsi-controlled army has driven urban Hutus into the hills and countryside.