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Article: Don't forget Burundi: behind it hovers the spectre of Rwanda.(Editorial)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 24, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DEALING with Burundi is a dangerous business-like trying to defuse a new type of bomb. The only similar model, Rwanda, exploded two years ago leaving perhaps as many as 1m dead. So far Burundi has not gone off in the same way, but the fuse burns fiercely. At least 10,000 people have been killed this year.
The outside world did next to nothing to stop the slaughter in Rwanda. With a slightly guilty conscience, it is keeping a watchful eye on its neighbour Burundi. It needs to do more.
Rwanda and Burundi are both former kingdoms in which a minority of Tutsis ruled six times as many Hutus. Though much has changed, the two groups still live together on the same ...