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Article: Hutu-Tutsi Strains Raise New Fears of Violence in Burundi
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- February 6, 1995
- Author:
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Strains in a power-sharing agreement between Tutsis and Hutus have
led to fears that Burundi is on the brink of following Rwanda, its
northern neighbor, into ethnic massacres.
Opposition leader Charles Mukasi, a Tutsi, had threatened to
topple the fragile coalition government but backed off Saturday,
saying he never intended to use violence to achieve his aims.
For months, his mix of truculence and political cunning has helped
destabilize a power-sharing agreement that was laboriously negotiated
last September between the majority Hutus, who now govern, and the
minority Tutsis, who ruled Burundi for 400 years.
The Tutsis represent an estimated 15 percent of the 6 million
citizens of this ...