No derailing Burundi peace
2004-04-30 21:06
Kampala - Burundi's peace process will not be derailed by the one remaining rebel group fighting in the central African country, the country's president said on Friday on a visit to Uganda.
Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye said the Hutu-led National Liberation Forces "are not serious" and their refusal to join a power-sharing government will not stop the ethnically balanced structure from moving forward.
"I am satisfied with the implementation of the peace process," Ndayizeye, a Hutu, said. "There is peace in 97% of the territory of Burundi ... so we think we can go ahead with the programme."
The National Liberation Forces is the only rebel group that has not joined Burundi's new government and they so far have refused to negotiate with the government. More than 260 000 people, most of them civilians, have died since the fighting began in 1993, according to UN figures.
The regional peace process has been led by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who said on Friday that the international community should consider placing sanctions on the rebels and arresting their leaders.
"I cannot speak on behalf of the peace summit, but ... we can put sanctions on the FNL," Museveni said.
A bloody purge
For most of Burundi's history since independence in 1962, members of the Tutsi minority have controlled the country's government, military and economy. There have been sporadic periods of intense ethnic fighting, including a bloody purge in 1972.
In anticipation of a lengthy reconciliation process, Burundi's Radio Isanganiro on Friday began broadcasting interviews with key players in the 1972 fighting to encourage a national discussion on the country's bloody history. Many believe the Tutsi army's brutal repression of a Hutu insurrection precipitated the current civil war.
"There must be no taboo events, especially when they took human lives," the radio's director, Fiacre Munezero, said.
Arthemon Simbananiye, a special adviser to then president Michel Micombero, openly discussed the government's role in the killing.
"It is true that Hutu rebels attacked south Burundi with the aim to kill Tutsis, but the repression was beyond measure," he said. "To the present politicians, I say, you shall be asked to explain what is going on now some 30 years later or more ... you should not commit the same error."
- SAPA