BUJUMBURA - US FBI agents will help investigate the murder of a Burundi anti-graft activist, a statement by the US embassy in the central African state said.

BUJUMBURA - US FBI agents will help investigate the murder of a Burundi anti-graft activist, a statement by the US embassy in the central African state said.

Ernest Manirumva, deputy chairman of corruption watchdog OLUCOME, was killed two weeks ago by unidentified men who stabbed him in the head.

"The United States accepted to offer the government of Burundi the assistance of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in gathering evidence and identifying the persons responsible for this terrible crime," the statement said.

FBI personnel based in Nairobi will travel to Bujumbura for the investigation, said the statement yesterday.

The European Union has deplored the killing of Manirumva and urged Burundi's government to launch an independent inquiry. - Reuters