The UN sees a "real danger" of a new war between Hutus and Tutsis in central Africa and is appealing to leaders in Burundi, Congo and Rwanda to deal with extremist elements and return to the path of reconciliation, a senior UN official said Thursday.
Undersecretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council that threats of retaliatory action by key figures in the three countries following last week's massacre of at least 160 refugees at a UN camp near the Congolese border in Burundi could lead to renewed fighting.
"There is a real danger of violence, of a spiral of violence," Guehenno said. "We do call on all actors at the moment to exert maximum restraint. This horrific massacre at Gatumba (camp) must not lead to a cycle of revenge. There has to be justice, not revenge."
More than a decade of violence between the region's majority Hutus and minority Tutsis has wracked central Africa. It spawned the 1994 Rwandan genocide, a continuing civil war in Burundi that started in 1993, and two invasions of Congo by Rwanda and Burundi in attempts to root out Hutu militias.
The massacre raised fears of retaliatory violence that could undo peace efforts in Congo, where a 1998-2003 civil war involved fighters from five countries and left more than 3 million people dead, most through strife-induced hunger and disease.
A Burundian Hutu rebel group, the National Liberation Forces, claimed responsibility for the attack last Friday night on Gatumba, which sheltered Congolese Tutsis known as Banyamulenge who had fled fighting in their troubled country. The rebels later claimed they were searching for Burundi army supporters in the camp but Guehenno said they didn't deny involvement "in the atrocities that were committed in Gatumba."
Burundi and Rwanda on Tuesday threatened to send troops into neighboring Congo to hunt down the militiamen who attacked the camp from bases in eastern Congo. The Burundian army chief accused Congolese soldiers of participating in the massacre.
Congo's interim government said it wanted to resolve the situation diplomatically, but was ready "to react" if Burundian or Rwandan troops crossed the border.
Guehenno called the threats of military action "very dangerous" and warned that they "could lead to terrible disasters." The massacre strengthened those on both sides "who think that the military option is better than the political answer," he said.
"That's why it's so important that all the leaders step away from the brink where they are," Guehenno said. "We are concerned about the extremists on all sides."
He urged all leaders to see the Gatumba tragedy "as a strong signal that they have to go back in the path of reconciliation and deal with the extremist elements who are prepared to commit acts of genocide."
The council is also expected to meet next week to discuss Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call to more than double the 10,800-strong UN peacekeeping force in Congo to 23,900 to help keep the peace process from derailing.
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