National Liberation Forces
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National Forces of Liberation
Forces nationales de libération |
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| President | Agathon Rwasa |
| Founded | 1980 (founded) 2008 (registered) |
| Ideology | Hutu interests |
| Colors | Red, Green |
| Senate |
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| National Assembly |
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| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
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The National Forces of Liberation (French: Forces nationales de libération, FNL), formerly Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People (also known as PALIPEHUTU, the acronym of its French name Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu) is a political party and rebel group in Burundi which fought in the Burundi Civil War for the Hutu ethnic group.
The armed wing of PALIPEHUTU were the National Forces of Liberation (FNL or Forces nationales de libération). The FNL is led by Agathon Rwasa and is estimated to have around 3,000 combatants.
A dissident wing is led by Jean Bosco Sindayigaya.
PALIPEHUTU was founded in 1980 in refugee camps in Tanzania, where Hutus had fled following persecution by the Tutsi-led government. PALIPEHUTU advocated armed struggle and established its armed wing, the FNL, in 1985. The National Liberation Front (FROLINA) split from PALIPEHUTU in 1990, and the armed wing PALIPEHUTU-FNL, led by Cossan Kabura split from the political wing of PALIPEHUTU in 1991. The political wing of PALIPEHUTU was renamed the Party for the Liberation of People-Agakiza and is led by Etienne Karatasi. In 2002 PALIPEHUTU-FNL split into two factions, one led by Kabura and one by Agathon Rwasa.
Generally, PALIPEHUTU's support comes more from the central region of Muramvya and Lake Tanganyika, whereas the main Hutu political party CNDD derives its support from the southern Bururi region.
During the civil war, PALIPEHUTU-FNL was linked to the killing of Monsignor Michael Courtney, the Catholic Church's chief representative in Burundi, the Titanic Express massacre and the Gatumba massacre in which over 150 Banyamulenge Congolese refugees were killed.
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Wikipedia