Burundi: man arrested in connection with killing of papal nuncio

A young man was arrested by the army in Burundi yesterday, in connection with the assassination of the papal nuncio Monsignor Michael Courtney, the Missionary News Service report. Dieudonne Hakizimana, aged around 20 was said to be a member of the FNL (National Liberation Forces). Hakizimana said:"No-one told us to kill the Nuncio." Speaking from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from injuries sustained in his arrest, he said: "There were four of us, we had stopped numerous vehicles, but one of them failed to stop and we opened fire". He explained that he had never been to school and that he knew nothing about the flag and the diplomatic plates on the Nuncio's car. "When we returned to the camp, there was great consternation. They told us that we had killed the papal envoy in Burundi." However, FNL (National Liberation Forces) spokesman Pasteur Habimana has denied this version of events. He said: "Our men do not know this young man. This story is a set-up. We know the whole truth, and we are ready to let it out. The truth is that it is the soldiers who planned the murder of Monsignor Courtney." Habimana said the FNL has called for a neutral and international inquiry to lift the veil on the whole affair. "Why was the Nuncio allowed to leave by car on 29 December given that he had been warned of the risk of FNL attacks in the area? And why did the army ask the population to evacuate the area where the Nuncio was ambushed, saying that the military had to carry out work there?" Source: MISNA