Burundi’s former chief of staff, Colonel Jean Bikomagu assassinated

{The former head of Burundi’s army during its 13-year civil war was assassinated Saturday.}

Colonel Jean Bikomagu, a key figure in the former Tutsi-dominated army, was gunned down in his car by unidentified assailants as he was about to enter his home in Kinindo, a southern district of the capital Bujumbura, a family member said.

Colonel Jean Bikomagu was first chief of staff of the army during President Pierre Buyoya rule. In 1993, the first democratically elected president of Burundi, Melchior Ndadaye, maintained at his post. A few months later, President Ndadaye was assassinated in a coup. Some suspect Colonel Bikomagu to have been involved in the murder. A thesis that is not unanimous and he has always denied.