{Bujumbura – Burundian police have accused Belgian diplomats of having amassed people of various nationalities, possibly with a view to undermining the security of the state.}
Blocks of flats for Belgian Nationals were searched in a residential neighbourhood of the capital Bujumbura on Thursday morning.
The Public Information Officer to the National Police, Pierre Nkurikiye, told reporters the police acted because it had information that there were people of different nationalities, “possibly aiming at threatening the state security” who were being housed near the Belgian residences. He didn’t give the number of the alleged suspects but only said they included citizens from Senegal, Rwanda, Guinea and Burundian women.
“No arrests have been carried out, but the police sent report to the relevant officials for necessary actions,” he said. The police spokesman added that diplomat residences were not searched.
This was also confirmed by the Belgian Consulate in Burundi. However, the Belgian embassy told the African News Agency (ANA) THAT it had not been informed of why the search was carried out. Relations between Burundi and Brussels have been deteriorating since the country descended into a new crisis, following the decision of President Pierre Nkurunziza to bid for a controversial term.
The Burundian ambassador to Belgium was recalled last week in a sign of further declining relations between the two countries.
The Burundi Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Aimé Nyamitwe indicated that the relations between their two countries were not at the desired level. Bujumbura has been accusing Brussels of being behind nearly all the problems the country is currently facing since the latest crisis broke out in April 2015.
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