Fighting in Bujumbura province leaves 8 dead - AngolaPress

Bujumbura, Burundi, 12/26 - At least eight persons, including six rebels, were killed Saturday in clashes between Burundi government troops and the rebel National Liberation Front (FNL) in several areas north-west of Bujumbura, army spokesman, Maj. Adolphe Manirakiza affirmed here Sunday.

Manirakiza said government soldiers shot the six rebels as they attempted to loot properties belonging to civilians in Kajeke, a remote area in Bubanza province northwest of Bujumbura.

He told journalists on Sunday that government troops captured two rebels and seized two rifles from them, as one loyalist soldier got killed in the fighting.

Meanwhile, an unidentified-armed group caused havoc Saturday night in nearby Cibitoke province where they attacked several families in Nyamitanga village.

Government forces quickly moved in and killed one of the assailants, but the remaining members of the gang fled with 12 goats, two motorcycles and unspecified amount of cash, the Burundi army spokesman said.

But he noted that no major incident occurred on Christmas eve in the Burundi capital, where security had been reinforced in anticipation of any rebel attack.

Out of the seven Hutu rebel groups that were active in Burundi, the FNL is the only faction still defiantly fighting around Bujumbura.

http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=402745

Congo Earthquake

BBC news reported on the earthquake in DR Congo near Lake Tanganyika and the Tanzanian border on Monday 5 December, but no further news or updates have been added. The shocks were felt in Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, and by the Indian Ocean. Hundreds fled in panic from offices in Nairobi, 1000Km from the epicentre. The quake hit with a 6.8 magnitude at 1219GMT, the US Geological Survey said. East Africa's Great Rift Valley runs along a geological fault line, but has largely escaped major quakes in recent years. The epicentre is about 90 miles from Kigoma where we briefly spent some time on our way to a refugee camp. BBC aricle is:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4499938.stm We understand that the Rema guys in Bujumbura, Burundi are OK and have not been personally affected by it, but there have been some fatalities. In DR Congo, eyewitness reports from Kalimie say it has been “an incredibly difficult and frightening time” for the people of Kalemie, the town nearest the epicentre. CMS are reporting that over 300 hundred houses fell down. Six people died. There was a strong wind off Lake Tanganyika causing major damage to houses; some collapsed, roofs come off. Many people are now homeless.

You could ask why there has been so little coverage of this event in the media, there are probably two main reasons; western media know that there will be little interest from the public - not many of us have friends, relations or business interests there. Also, there is little infrastructure so news will only get out slowly. it is interesting that this is still the case despite ubiquitous mobile phones, internet access in even the remotest of places. By the time movies and eyewitness reports reach the mainstream media, the news has moved on and lost interest.

Deepa Verma Jivram at the Sunday Monitor in Uganda has an interesting article looking at earthquakes in the region. http://www.monitor.co.ug/sunday/oped/oped12115.php

BURUNDI: New debt relief from African Development Bank

The African Development Bank (ADB) Group said on Monday Burundi had met the conditions needed to qualify for US $226.01 million ($149.35 million in Net Present Value terms) in debt relief.
"Burundi qualified for [the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries] HIPC debt relief after having demonstrated good progress in stabilising its economy and continuously implementing sound policies for macroeconomic and financial stability, growth and poverty reduction."
The ADB and ADF boards said although Burundi still faced a fragile political and socioeconomic situation, the country had made significant progress in stabilising the economy, implementing financial and structural reforms and initiating the restoration of social services.
In August Burundi became the 28th country to qualify for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's enhanced HIPC initiative.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/0be264f347fd35f3c45d0c0b3260c54b.htm