Burundi tensions worry Annan

2004-11-23 11:02

United Nations - Burundi's peace process is making progress but tensions are continuing and all sides should avoid further delays on the road to elections, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Monday.

In a report to the Security Council, Annan said implementing a peace accord "should not be held hostage by either the sectarian or the individual interests of party leaders", which he said had marked the peace process to date.

"It would be tragic if the Burundian parties were to undermine the progress and confidence-building achieved so far," the UN chief warned.

Annan also called on the council to extend the mandate of the more than 5 000 UN peacekeepers in the African nation for an additional six months until the end of May.

The Security Council is expected to be in Burundi this week as part of a mission to Africa's troubled Great Lakes region.

Burundi is trying to turn the page on a civil war which, since a variety of Hutu armed groups rose up in 1993 against a government and army then dominated by the Tutsi minority, has claimed more than 300 000 lives.

Burundi's defence minister on Saturday said that the war-ravaged nation's last active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), no longer stood in the way of peace efforts.

With the exception of the FNL, now estimated to have just a few hundred men under arms, all of these groups have joined a transitional power-sharing administration.

A series of elections is expected to usher in a permanent government over the next few months, after some delays, and Annan said the peace process should move forward without any further postponements.

He said tensions remain, "fuelled by continuing mistrust between the parties.

"It is therefore imperative to urgently address the outstanding tasks of the transition so as to avoid any further delays."

- AFP