China urges Burundi to ensure safety of Chinese diplomats
( 2003-11-11 22:19) (Xinhua)
The Chinese government urged
Burundi to take effective measures to guarantee the safety of the Chinese
embassy and its personnel, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Tuesday.
At a regular press conference, Liu said that one office building of the
Chinese Embassy in Bujumbura was accidentally hit by a mortar shell and damaged
to a certain extent during the fierce fighting between the Burundian government
army and the Forces for National Liberation's rebels, which broke out early
Monday morning in Burundi's capital Bujumbura.
"Fortunately nobody was killed or injured," added the spokesman.
Attaching great importance to this issue, Liu noted that the central Chinese
leadership asked the foreign ministry to find out details and extend sympathy to
the embassy staff.
The Chinese embassy officials took up the matter with the related Burundi
department, and Burundi defense minister and officials of the Burundi foreign
ministry also went to the spot and promised to beef up the defense of the
embassy.
The civil war in Burundi broke out in 1993 when the majority Hutus rose up
with weapons to fight the Tutsi government. Though the relevant cease-fire
agreements were signed in August 2000 and October 2002, sporadic clashes in the
capital region still occurred frequently.
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