In late 2007 and early 2008, the FNL carried out killings in order to intimidate or eliminate what it perceived as “competition.” Though the FNL has denied responsibility for killings of individuals close to the CNDD-FDD described in the case studies above, it has acknowledged responsibility for a series of attacks carried out on a group known in Burundi as the “alleged FNL dissidents.” This group claimed to have left the FNL in order to pursue peace.[138]FNLspokesperson Pasteur Habimana has characterized attacks on them as “self-defense,” because the group’s existence was seen as a threat to Palipehutu-FNL’s identity.[139]