国际英语新闻:Burundi issues int'l arrest warrants for former President Pierre Buyoya

BUJUMBURA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Burundian Attorney General Sylvestre Nyandwi on Friday evening announced the issuance of 17 international arrest warrants, including that of former Burundi President Pierre Buyoya, for suspicion of involving in assassinating Burundi's first Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye.

"As the 17 persons are not on the Burundian territory, we have launched international arrest warrants so that countries hosting them can arrest them and extradite them to Burundi in order to explain their suspected role in the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye," Nyandwi said at a press briefing in Burundian capital Bujumbura.

Nyandwi called on political leaders to abstain from interfering in the ongoing process of investigations by avoiding ambiguous speeches and rather cooperate with the prosecution.

Besides the former Tutsi president who was in office from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2003, the wanted include ministers in his presidential terms and retired senior army officers.

Buyoya has been High Representative of the African Union (AU) for Mali and the Sahel since Oct. 2012, and is staying in Mali.

Four retired senior army officers were arrested last Saturday in Bujumbura for allegedly being among masterminds in the killing of Ndadaye.

Ndadaye was killed on Oct. 21, 1993, just 102 days after he was sworn in as president.

Despite the adoption of a ethnic unity charter on Feb. 5, 1991, when the country's three main ethnic groups -- Hutu, Tutsi and Twa -- accepted to live in harmony and avoid confrontations, one of the biggest crises broke out with the assassination of Ndadaye, which sparked inter-ethnic violence with at least 300,000 victims.