Burundi Sides Get Peace Draft
Sep 15, 2003
Monday - Mediators in Burundi’s peace process have submitted a draft accord to opposing sides in the country’s 10-year war, ahead of a regional summit aimed at reviving the central African state’s peace process, officials said Monday.
DAR ES-SALAAM, Monday - Mediators in Burundi’s peace process have submitted a draft accord to opposing sides in the country’s 10-year war, ahead of a regional summit aimed at reviving the central African state’s peace process, officials said Monday.
Mediators from Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania handed the document to the Burundian government and the main rebel group, Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) a few hours ahead of a summit of six African presidents.
The negotiations are part of efforts to revive a ceasefire in Burundi signed last December between the government and the FDD but never respected.
“It’s the first time a draft agreement has been submitted to us,†said Salvator Ntacobamaze, representing the FDD in Dar es Salaam, where the summit was scheduled to convene.
“Each delegation is hard at work in its own corner,†Burundi’s presidential spokesman Pancrace Cimpaye told journalists.
The new document took account of the government’s position, unlike previous ones, he said in a reference to negotiations held last week in Kampala.
Those talks saw Burundi’s interim President Domitien Ndayizeye and FDD leader Pierre Nkrurunziza meet separately with President Yoweri Museveni.
Cimpaye did not reveal the content of the document put to the two sides in Dares Salaam.
FDD Secretary-General Hussein Radjabu said his side was analysing the new draft agreement, noting that it contained proposals made by the FDD in Kampala.
Museveni met Ndayizeye on Sunday and was scheduled for talks on Monday with Nkurunziza.
Ends
Mediators from Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania handed the document to the Burundian government and the main rebel group, Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) a few hours ahead of a summit of six African presidents.
The negotiations are part of efforts to revive a ceasefire in Burundi signed last December between the government and the FDD but never respected.
“It’s the first time a draft agreement has been submitted to us,†said Salvator Ntacobamaze, representing the FDD in Dar es Salaam, where the summit was scheduled to convene.
“Each delegation is hard at work in its own corner,†Burundi’s presidential spokesman Pancrace Cimpaye told journalists.
The new document took account of the government’s position, unlike previous ones, he said in a reference to negotiations held last week in Kampala.
Those talks saw Burundi’s interim President Domitien Ndayizeye and FDD leader Pierre Nkrurunziza meet separately with President Yoweri Museveni.
Cimpaye did not reveal the content of the document put to the two sides in Dares Salaam.
FDD Secretary-General Hussein Radjabu said his side was analysing the new draft agreement, noting that it contained proposals made by the FDD in Kampala.
Museveni met Ndayizeye on Sunday and was scheduled for talks on Monday with Nkurunziza.
Ends