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Article: Tribal Labels Mask African Power Struggle; In Rwanda and Burundi, Ethnic Politics Is Letting More Blood
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 27, 1996
- 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)
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In the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, Hutus and Tutsis -- the
ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi -- share the same language and
culture, the same tortured colonial history, the same dependence on
land and livestock.
Yet for much of this century, the two groups in these small
central African countries have battled each other, resulting in
millions of their people lost to death or displacement.
Today, nearly two years after tensions between the ethnic
groups in Rwanda exploded into a campaign of genocide by the Hutus
against the Tutsis, the tribes again stand at the center of two of
Africa's most important political crises.
In Burundi, a nation of 6 million, about 30 people are ...