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 BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) - A former Hutu rebel leader took the presidential oath Friday with Burundians looking to him to seal peace after 12 years of civil war and lead the central African nation toward prosperity.
Pierre Nkurunziza was elected by parliament last week following a four-year transitional government set up to end a war that began when paratroopers killed the first democratically elected president, a Hutu, in 1993. Nkurunziza's Forces for the Defense of Democracy was once the largest Hutu rebel group fighting the former Tutsi-dominated government.
"I swear that I will stand for peace, tranquility and development for all. I will fight against all genocidal ideology and all lies," said Nkurunziza, 40, holding the constitution in one hand and flags representing the nation and ethnic unity in the other.
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