BUJUMBURA, Sept 22 ( Reuters) - Burundi's government has protested against allegations in a draft United Nations report that its soldiers were involved in human rights abuses in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo from 1993 to 2003.
The leaked report prompted Burundi's other neighbour Rwanda to threaten to pull out of the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission in Darfur over similar accusations against its soldiers.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon flew to Kigali in September in an effort to defuse the tensions sparked by the draft report. [ID:nN08136858]
"The Burundi government has asked the U.N. Secretary General to take Burundi off the list of countries accused of involvement in killings in D.R Congo from 1993 to 2003," government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba, said on State Radio and Television late on Tuesday.
"The former national army was busy fighting against the CNDD-FDD rebellion in Burundi at that time," he said, adding that the troops had no enemies in D.R. Congo. (Reporting by Sadi Niyungeko; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
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