Washington:The United States joined an international chorus of alarm at the deteriorating situation in Burundi on Friday, accusing the government there of inciting violence.
Thomas Perriello, US special envoy for the Great Lakes region, condemned what he called "inflammatory and dangerous government rhetoric indicating the potential for wider-spread violence as early as this weekend."
Washington joined with the United Nations, the African Union and France in expressing concern, and Perriello told AFP: "We absolutely deplore any effort to incite violence or undermine regionally-mediated peace talks."
Burundi has been engulfed in violence triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's successful bid to win a third term in office, with bodies found dumped in the streets on a nearly daily basis.
At least 200 people have died in the latest turmoil and 200,000 have fled the country, recalling some of the darkest periods of recent history in the Great Lakes region of east central Africa.
Burundi itself was wracked by 13 years of conflict until a peace deal in 2006, and this week, independent watchdog the International Crisis Group warned of the "possibility of mass atrocities and civil war."
International alarm has grown over a five-day deadline that expires on Friday for Burundian civilians to hand over weapons or face a new regime crackdown.
AFP
