Al Qaida-linked militants gaining foothold in central Africa

BUJUMBURA, Burundi - Faced with concrete Jihadist threats for the first time, the East African nation of Burundi is considering sending away Muslim minorities unless they give information about extremists, Burundi's defense minister has told Haaretz.

	Germain Niyoyankana.
	Photo by: Cnaan Liphshiz

Lieutenant General Germain Niyoyankana said on Monday that Somali refugees staying in Burundi "will have to return" to their land unless they help Burundi's security forces fight terrorists. He said this in response to a deadly July 11 attack in nearby Uganda which claimed 73 lives and is attributed to a fundamentalist Muslim group from Somalia. The same group has said it will carry out similar attacks in Burundi.

"We are working with our Somali population and have requested their help in preventing attacks," Niyoyankana said in an interview, the first by a Burundi minister for Israeli media. "If the Somali refugees don't help us protect ourselves they will be obligated to return to where they came from. They chose to take refuge in Burundi and they should help protect us with any information possible."

Al-Shabaab, which is linked to Al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for twin explosions at a crowded restaurant and a rugby club in Uganda's capital Kampala during the last moments of the World Cup final on July 11. The insurgent group has threatened more attacks against Uganda and Burundi unless they withdraw their peacekeepers from Somalia, where Al-Shabaab is fighting the government and controls large sections of the chaotic country.

Niyoyankana said he did not know how many refugees from predominantly Muslim Somalia live in Burundi, "but there aren't many." He added that security forces have taken "a series of measures" which "cannot be specified" to foil plans to carry out attacks in the republic.

Burundi's population is 67 percent Christian and 23 percent traditionalist. Only 10 percent of its population of approximately nine million are Muslims. It is ranked as one of the world's 10 poorest countries.

"If you look around at what is happening in the city of Bujumbura and around it you will see there are things that are taking place," he said, in an apparent reference to roadblocks and increased military and police presence in the capital. However, he said that Burundi has not declared a state of emergency. He said Burundi army forces will remain in Somalia.

Al-Shabaab's techniques make it possible for the group to strike inside Burundi, the minister said, "but our armed forces are capable of defending the country, and Shabaab cannot operate here freely."

Nonetheless, Niyoyankana urged "Israel and other countries" to support Burundi increase its involvement in Somalia, "because Somalia, by its nature and location, is an issue that affects the whole world and not only Africa."

Last Saturday Burundi security forces arrested a local journalist, Jean Claude Kavumbagu for "disseminating libel" against the army. Kavumbagu, according to Niyoyankana, wrote in a July 12 article that if Somali Islamists "had to try something in Burundi, it would be easy since our defense and security forces are much better at looting and killing innocent people than defending the nation."

Niyoyankana said Kavumbagu had disseminated "false, undignified and irresponsible" information. "These claims encourage terrorism while damaging moral," he said.

Burundi has no military ties with Israel, "but would like to see more cooperation with Israel," Niyoyankana said.