A raid on an exiled Rwandan general's Johannesburg home has sparked tit for tat expulsions in three African countries.
Former Rwandan army chief General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa survived an assassination attempt in 2010 [AP]
South Africa has expelled a Burundi diplomat in connection with a raid on an exiled Rwandan general's Johannesburg home, according to a Burundian official.
The announcement came on Monday and is viewed as part of an ongoing diplomatic spat between South Africa and Rwanda that was sparked by a raid on former Rwandan army chief General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa's home on March 4.
"The Burundi diplomat is accused of collaborating with suspects," Gervais Abayeho, a senior media adviser for Burundi's presidency, told Reuters news agency.
"Burundi is reviewing information about South Africa's decision before it can react," Abayeho added.
South Africa expelled three Rwandan diplomats last week and Rwanda, which borders Burundi, retaliated by ordering out six South African diplomats.
The row has strained ties between two of the African states involved in efforts to bring peace to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where South Africa has troops in a UN brigade that fought against rebels last year who UN experts said were backed by Rwanda.
Opponents or traitors
A diplomatic source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters last week that South African security services had tracked those involved in the raid on Nyamwasa's house and said they were intelligence personnel linked to Rwanda's embassy.
Nyamwasa survived an assassination attempt in Johannesburg in 2010.
South African police have also been investigating the New Year's Eve murder in a Johannesburg hotel of another exiled opponent of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, former Rwandan spy chief Patrick Karegeya.
Exiled Rwandan opposition members have accused Kagame and his government of killing Karegeya and attacking others critics.
They deny Kigali's charges that they are behind attacks in Rwanda.
Kagame and senior Rwandan officials also deny any involvement in the assaults on exiled opponents, but consider them to be traitors.
Source:Reuters
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