Jean-Claude Karerwa
Burundi rejects African Union peacekeepers as 'invasion force'
Burundi's government said on Dec. 20 it would not agree to the deployment of African Union (AU) peacekeepers, warning that they would be seen as "an invasion force."
The announcement came a day after the 54-member bloc said it would send a 5,000-strong forced to halt spiraling violence in the tiny central African country as fears grow it is rapidly sliding towards civil war.