UN flip-flops on Burundi - again

"We want to know the truth. The United Nations and the international community will not tolerate war crimes anymore. Any individual, any group responsible for war crimes will be held accountable for its acts" - UN's Burundi office 26/5/05

"The FNL rebels and the national army are accusing each other of attacks. We are not interested in who is right..." - UN's Burundi office, 31/5/05

Last week the UN's Burundi office demanded an investigation into mortar attacks that wounded five in the suburbs of the capital Bujumbura on Tuesday night, and recent reports of summary executions in Bujumbura Rural province, a stronghold of the rebel Hutu Forces for National Liberation (FNL)...

But this week, the UN's Burundi office had magically transformed those "war crimes" into nothing more than "shooting incidents":

"We have had a few shooting incidents recently in and around capital... The FNL [Forces nationales de liberation] rebels and the national army are accusing each other of attacks. We are not interested in who is right, we just want the fighting to stop."

With the UN, yet again, dithering over what to do about the FNL, is it any wonder that the killers are carrying on their business as usual?

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