Burundi okays AU force
2003-07-17 22:22
Bujumbura - The authorities in Burundi are prepared to allow a wider mandate for an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force so it can help tackle fighting that has escalated recently in the war-torn country, South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.
The AU troops are currently only authorised to use force in self-defence.
"I met Burundi's military officers, the speaker of the senate and national assembly, the president and vice president, and all agreed that, given what has been going on, the mandate of the African Force must be revised to deal with the current situation," Zuma, the chief mediator in the Burundi peace process, said at the end of an official six-hour visit to the central African country.
On July 7, the rebel National Liberation Forces launched the fiercest assault on Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, since the country's civil war began in 1993.
More than 300 combatants and dozens of civilians were killed before the offensive subsided at the end of last week.
The African Union, which groups all states on the continent, has sent South African and Mozambican peacekeeping troops to Burundi.
But their mandate is limited to facilitating the demobilisation of fighters from rebel groups which, unlike the FNL, have reached ceasefire deals with the government.
Negotiating table
"One thing is clear," said Zuma. "The authorities in Burundi are determined to end the violence and to bring the FNL to the negotiating table."
"But if this does not happen, sanctions must be taken" he added.
The FNL, which is drawn from the Hutu ethnic majority, has long refused to talk to Burundi's transitional government, insisting that its only viable interlocutors are the minority Tutsi commanders of the army and top Tutsi politicians.
African heads of state engaged in a regional peace initiative for Burundi are due to meet on Sunday to discuss sending more troops to the country, with a stronger mandate.
Burundi's civil war has for 10 years pitted rebels from the Hutu majority against their Tutsi rivals, who control the military and held sway over the government until the interim power-sharing regime was installed in November 2001.
More than 300 000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the war.