POPE APPEALS FOR END TO VIOLENCE IN BURUNDI

VATICAN CITY, JUL 24, 1996 (VIS) - At today's general audience Pope John Paul highlighted the tense situation in Burundi and appealed for an end to the violence there:

"The dramatic news relative to the killing in Burundi of hundreds of Tutsi who are evacuees and unarmed, and the forced repatriation of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees in their country can only cause us to feel horror and firm reprobation.

"Burundi continues to drown in an abyss of violence which reaps many victims among the most defenseless: children, women, old people, and which suffocates the voice of the most moderate persons and social forces.

"Uniting myself to the appeal of the bishops of Burundi I ask the leaders of that beloved nation in a heartfelt way to enact, without delay or hesitation, every possible initiative so that civil dialogue will prevail over the evil logic of ethnic suppression.

"May the international community contribute to a prudent political agreement and humanitarian aid!

"Let us pray together to the Lord for the dead and the living: May He help all Burundians to think of themselves as brothers who must love each other because they are sons of the same God!"
AG/APPEAL BURUNDI/... VIS 960724 (210)