|
|
Article: Burundi Killings' Roots Lie in Tribal Hatreds
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 21, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
The massacre last week of an estimated 600 to 800 people in the
small nation of Burundi is a reminder of the blood-feud resentments
that endure there in the mountains of central Africa under a military
regime that practices a kind of tribal apartheid.
In Burundi, where 5 million people are crowded into a remote
highland country the size of the state of Maryland, the majority
Hutus are ruled by the minority Tutsis. Hutus outnumber Tutsis about
6 to 1, yet they have almost no role in the government or the
military. The Tutsis control what little wealth there is in the
world's 13th-poorest country.
The inherent tensions of minority rule are exacerbated in Burundi
by memory of the worst ...