U.N. Suspends Talks With Burundian Rebels

The United Nations has suspended talks with Burundian Hutu rebels who claimed responsibility for the massacre of at least 160 Congolese Tutsi refugees at a U.N.-run camp, a spokeswoman for the organization said Tuesday. The U.N. had been brokering peace talks between Burundi's government and the National Liberation Forces - the last rebel group still fighting in the country's 11-year-old civil war, said Isabelle Abric. "The negotiations have been suspended because they are claiming responsibility for the attack" in which Congolese Tutsi refugees were shot, hacked, stabbed and burned to death, Abric told The Associated Press. "It seems they are not willing to contribute to the peace process." [more ] Pictured above: A UN peace keeping soldier from Senegal (R) looks at a Burundian man holding a placard protesting against the UN for allegedly not protecting the refugees, before the burial of those who were attacked and killed 14 August in Gatumba camp,[more ]