South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, accompanied by senior government officials, left Pretoria on Sunday on a four day tour of the Great Lakes region, news agencies reported. He will brief leaders of those countries on the latest developments regarding the peace process in Burundi. Zuma’s visit to the region follows last week’s announcement by peace mediator Nelson Mandela that an agreement had been reached on Burundi’s transitional leadership. AFP reported that while Zuma’s spokeswoman, Lakela Kaunda, gave no specific details of the mission, she did note that Zuma and Gabonese President Omar Bongo were trying to persuade Burundi’s armed rebel groups to institute a ceasefire and join the peace process.
On Sunday, Zuma was in Dar es Salaam to meet Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and on Monday he travelled to Nairobi to meet Kenyan President Daniel arap-Moi, before heading on to Kigali. In the coming days he will travel and the DRC and Uganda.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article
