MSF reported to be leaving Burundi

BBC News, Thursday 18 November 1999 Published at 17:39 GMT

Reports from Burundi say the aid organisation, Medecins sans Frontieres, has suspended its assistance to hundreds of thousands of displaced people around the capital, Bujumbura.

The governor of Bujumbura-Rural province said MSF had written to President Pierre Buyoya announcing its decision.

MSF has not confirmed the report but according to the French news agency, it has taken the decision that its aid has no impact on the suffering of the population who were forcibly re-settled by the Tutsi-dominated army.

Since September the army has re-grouped huge numbers of villagers in camps while they hunt Hutu extremists who have stepped up attacks close to Bujumbura.