Burundi peace talks to resume in Tanzania
2002-11-26 08:51
Nairobi - Burundi's warring factions will make a fresh effort on Tuesday to settle outstanding issues on a comprehensive ceasefire agreement ahead of a regional summit next month, mediators said.
Talks aimed at ending Burundi's nine-year civil war hit a wall after President Pierre Buyoya and a main rebel faction - the FDD, led by Peter Nkuruzinza - failed to reach a deal by a November 7 deadline set by regional leaders. The talks were extended for a further two weeks.
Fighting has intensified in Burundi in the past weeks after the warring factions failed to agree on a ceasefire to cover the period of the talks.
But the chief mediator, South African deputy president Jacob Zuma, said he was confident the two groups would finalise the peace agreement before a regional summit on December 1.
"Given the agreement already reached on a number of issues, Deputy President Zuma is confident that the FDD and the transitional government will find a common ground on the outstanding issues," a statement from Zuma's office said.
Zuma will attend Tuesday's talks in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam.
Burundi's civil war pits rebels from the ethnic Hutu majority against the Tutsi-led army and has claimed an estimated 300 000 lives, according to United Nations figures.
The government and the rebels had agreed on several proposals in a draft ceasefire agreement such as disarmament, demobilisation and destruction of excess weapons, establishment of a new armed forces with equal representation between the two ethnic groups and how to deal with prisoners of war.
But the factions could not agree on the issue of withdrawal of all foreign forces from Burundi and the withdrawal of Burundian forces from foreign land, mediators said.
The new round of talks will look at proposals that the army moves back to barracks while other armed groups assemble in designated areas, all under UN supervision.
Negotiators will also discuss a draft proposal that mercenaries and foreign forces leave Burundi, the statement said, without identifying them.
The talks will also look into how to engage with other parties that have not signed the ceasefire agreement.
Burundi's other main rebel group, the Palipehutu-FNL, has declined to meet the government for talks, but mediators say it has been in contact with them.
A new Burundi government sharing power between Hutus and Tutsis was inaugurated last year but it has struggled to defeat escalating rebel attacks, road ambushes and kidnappings.