(Updates with U.S. pledge, 12 killed in ambush) By Christian Jennings

BUJUMBURA, April 1 (Reuter) - The United States said on

Monday it was giving $1.3 million for human rights monitors in Rwanda and Burundi and warned that donors could not support Burundi economically if there was no end to ethnic conflict. In a further sign of the degenerating ethnic conflict in Burundi aid officials said at least 12 people were killed when a minibus was ambushed and set ablaze on Sunday by rebels near Muramvya northeast of the capital Bujumbura. Brian Atwood, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator, said USAID would provide $300,000 for monitors in Burundi and $1 million for a similar operation in neighbouring Rwanda. He was speaking after arriving in Burundi on a joint mission with Emma Bonino, the European commisssioner for Fisheries, Consumer Policy and Humanitarian Affairs. "The message we have tried to deliver (in Burundi) is that we cannot continue to support the economy of this country when there is conflict going on internally," Atwood told Reuters. "The message is as well that our initiative i

s a life preserver thrown to the people of Burundi. If they don't choose to grab it this time they might end up like Rwanda and the international community might not be so interested this time. "This is the message we are going to give to the president and prime minister," said Atwood. "If we (donors) continue to supply 23 percent of their GDP (gross domestic product) then the problems will continue." One million Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu hardliners in a genocidal campaign that began nearly two years ago and led to civil war. "We can continue to provide humanitarian aid -- it is easier to provide humanitarian aid for refugees than provide aid inside the country," said Bonino before talks with the Hutu president. "Themessage that we're delivering is that if a real dialogue doesn't start then it is impossible to provide support for a process that isn't there. They (Burundi's government) know that this is the last chance they have," she added. Jean-Luc Siblot

, Burundi director for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), said a WFP vehicle passed the site of Sunday's ambush and the minibus was burning and corpses lay on the road. Security officials said the attack was by Hutu rebels. "It's for reasons like these we need continuing aid," said Siblot, after meeting Atwood and Bonino. "We need continued funding for an aircraft that can operate so that we are not obliged to drive on roads like these." More than 100,000 people have been killed since 1993 in Burundi in conflict between minority Tutsis and majority Hutus. Most aid agencies suspended their work in Burundi for several weeks after a series of attacks on foreign aid workers. Human rights groups say the Tutsi-dominated government army and Hutu rebels routinely kill civilians in revenge for attacks. U.N. investigator Paulo Sergio Pinheiro last week criticised the EU for failing to send human rights monitors to Burundi to promote security almost a year after promising to do so. @@@Vache-folle

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