5,000 peacekeepers to be sent to Burundi - Africa union

The African Union said on Friday it was preparing
to send 5,000 peacekeepers to Burundi to protect
civilians caught up in a growing crisis, for the
first time using powers to deploy troops to a
member country against its will.
Burundi dismissed the announcement, saying no
foreign force would get in without permission. But
its neighbours have grown increasingly alarmed
about the violence in the central African state
which the United Nations says is on the brink of
civil war.
Tensions have been running particularly high
since gunmen attacked military sites in the
capital Bujumbura last week, unnerving a region
where memories of the 1994 genocide in
neighbouring Rwanda are still raw.
The African Union's Peace and Security Council
said in a statement it had drawn up plans for the
force - to be called MAPROBU - and had asked
the U.N. Security Council to give it the final
clearance it needed to get boots on the ground.
The U.N. Security Council has already been
looking at ways to tackle the crisis, including
sending in peacekeepers.
"(The AU body) decides that MAPROBU shall have
an initial strength of up to 5,000 military
personnel and police," as well as human rights
observers and military experts, it added.
A diplomat told Reuters late on Thursday the
resolution marked the first time the AU had
decided to invoke its charter's Article 4, that gives
the bloc the right to intervene in a member state
"in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war
crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity".
Burundi's government spokesman, Philippe
Nzobonariba, said the force would not be allowed
in without permission. "They can't invade a
country if the latter is not informed and allow it,"
he said on state radio.
"It would be better if they go to those
camps in Rwanda where troublemakers
train," Nzobonariba added. The government
has accused Rwanda of supporting rebels
who are recruiting Burundian refugees - a
charge Rwanda denies.
The United Nations says at least 400 people have
been killed since April when President Pierre
Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term in
office triggered protests and a failed coup.
Rights groups have reported violent clashes
between protesters and authorities, gun attacks
and detentions of government critics. The
government denies responsibility for any rights
abuses.
Hundreds of thousands have fled the worst
violence to hit the country since it emerged from
an ethnically charged civil war in 2005.
Demonstrators said the president's decision to
stand in an election he eventually won broke
constitutional term limits, while his supporters
pointed to a court ruling allowing his bid.
Much of the latest violence appears to be along
political divides. But diplomats fear a prolonged
conflict could reopen old ethnic rifts.
The civil war pitted the army, which was at the
time led by minority Tutsis, against rebel groups
of the Hutu majority, including one led by
Nkurunziza - an ethnic split mirrored in Rwanda.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
accused Burundi's authorities on Thursday of
dragging the country towards full-blown civil war
and called for travel bans and asset freezes
targeting key officials to try to halt the
bloodshed.