New demobilisation team picked, list of ex-combatants being reviewed

Following several protests by former combatants in Burundi over their demobilisation pay, the government has appointed new officials to the National Commission for Demobilisation, Reintegration and Reinsertion and announced that a new list of paramilitary youths to be demobilised would be released this week. "The new team is championing a spirit of collaboration at all levels of the demobilisation programme, with close contact with the demobilised persons," Brig-Gen Silas Ntiguriwa, the commission's new executive secretary, said at a news conference on Wednesday in the capital, Bujumbura. The new commission members were appointed last week by presidential decree. The old team was dismissed over controversy that surrounded the compilation of the paramilitary youth, known as Guardians of Peace, and another group of civilians who acted as porters for the police and army during the country's 12-year civil-war. The youth have been seeking US $600 each, as demobilisation pay. The appointment of the new commission members followed demonstrations by the ex-combatants who, when they turned up to collect their payments at commission, found that many of their names were not on the list of those to be demobilised. Ntiguriwa said on Wednesday a 12-member team had been appointed to review the list, which would be reduced from 35,000 to 20,000 to weed out those who were not genuine former fighters. Regarding the ex-combatants' demand for demobilisation pay, Ntiguriwa announced that the reinsertion package would be in material aid, not monetary. The new commission members are embarking on a second phase of demobilisation as the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) rebel group continues to fight the army in various parts of the country. Bujumbura Rural, a province surrounding the capital, is the FNL's stronghold. Administrative officials in the southern provinces of Makamba and Bururi have said that the FNL is recruiting more elements and setting up a parallel administration in the provinces. Regarding the recent announcement of a split in the FNL, Burundi's minister for interior and public security, Salvator Ntacobamaze, said the government considered the FNL to be a single unit. He said Burundi was waiting for the Tanzanian government to end consultations with the FNL before initiating its own negotiations with the movement. The FNL, led by Agathon Rwasa, has announced it has appointed an 80-member delegation to take part in the negotiations. The Burundian government has also announced it would appoint an eight-member team, comprising military and police officers, to take part in the talks.