Burundi voters make their mark
2005-06-03 09:51
Bujumbura - Voters in Burundi headed to the polls on Friday in local elections seen as a key test of stability in this tiny central African nation struggling to emerge from 12 years of civil war.
Voting began shortly before 07:00, an hour later than scheduled, reporters at polling stations witnessed.
Friday's election of municipal councillors, the first in a series of planned polls, will be the first time Burundians have elected their own leaders since the outbreak of the 1993 civil war that claimed 300 000 lives.
In a country struggling to overcome tribal rivalry between minority Tutsis and majority Hutus, the vote is seen as a bellwether for the prospects of carrying through a five-year-old peace process.
- AFP