Burundi opposition says ruling party raring militia

Burundi's main opposition group on Tuesday accused President Pierre Nkurunziza's party of forming a militia and carrying out targeted assassinations.

The Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU) said the ruling CNDD-FDD party -- a former Hutu rebel group -- was re-arming former fighters.

"We have proof that this party is re-arming its former fighters, that the presidential police has already killed dozens and that it has formed a militia," opposition party chief Leonce Ngendakumana told reporters.

He said the ruling party was being "derailed" by "targeted killings and the formation of the militia."

"All this cannot guarantee free and democratic elections in 2010 if nothing is done. We should expect violence," he told a press conference attended by several Western diplomats.

Several Burundi rights groups have raised the alarm over the training of ruling party youth groups and their use alongside the police in the countryside.

No government official was available for comment.

Nkurunziza, who came to power in 2005 in the country's first post-war polls, has faced criticism from rights groups over abuses.

Burundi is struggling to emerge from 13 years of civil war that pitted the army, once dominated by Tutsis, against Hutu rebel movements.

Hutus and Tutsis now equally share posts in the army and police.