Burundi’s veteran rebel resurfaces

Iol News - AFP, August 6 2013.

Agathon Rwasa seen in this
2010 file photo

Burundi's veteran rebel leader Agathon Rwasa resurfaced on Tuesday after three years in the bush, but police stopped him from addressing some thousand supporters who came to welcome him.

“Three years ago, in the wake of the dispute over the elections, I had to leave those close to me in order to save my skin,” Rwasa told reporters at a villa in the capital Bujumbura.

“Today I'm ending my exile to answer the call to come home and lead the party.”

Rwasa, dressed smartly in a navy blue suit and red tie, first appeared at a local community hall where supporters were celebrating his return, an AFP reporter said.

Several UN officials and foreign diplomats also gathered to see his return.

But dozens of police officers blocked Rwasa and turned him away, saying he did not have the necessary authorisation to hold a rally.

“The organisation of a rally is governed by the law. Mr Agathon Rwasa refused to accept that,” said Godefroid Bizimana, second-in-command of Burundi's police, who turned out in person to supervise his men.

That is why this meeting has been banned.”

Police also blocked several roads leading into the capital to prevent hundreds of supporters from outside town joining celebrations, local officials said.

“The regime has - yet again - shown its dictatorial and intolerant nature,” Rwasa's spokesman Aime Magera told journalists.

“We informed the interior minister about this meeting a long time ago and we invited him to attend,” he added.

The 49-year-old ex-rebel leader once headed the National Liberation Forces (FNL), a guerrila force that has since become a political party. - Sapa-AFP