US Withdraws Nonessential Embassy Staff from Burundi

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, July 14, 2003

US Withdraws Nonessential Embassy Staff from Burundi

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The United States ordered to withdraw nonessential embassy staff from Burundi on Sunday and warned its citizens against travel to the country amid increased fighting between government forces and rebels.

Washington "recommends that private American citizens in Burundi evaluate their personal security situation in light of the continuing fighting and consider departure while commercial flights remain available," said a travel warning from the US State Department.

Fighting between the Burundian government troops and the Forcesfor National Liberation (FNL), the second largest Hutu rebel group, flared up again on July 7 and the latest conflict erupted in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, on Saturday afternoon.

The civil war in Burundi broke out in 1993 when the country's first-ever Hutu president Melchoir Ndadaye was assassinated in a military coup.

The conflict has so far killed more than 250,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others.

A shaky peace process is underway but the FNL has refused to sign up to a cease-fire agreed last December by the Burundian government and main Hutu rebel group, the Forces for the Defense of Democracy.

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