Arusha peace negotiations resume

The Burundi peace talks resumed in Arusha, Tanzania, on Monday, with three of four committees continuing deliberations on their particular areas of concern, the Nyerere Foundation spokesman Hashim Mbita confirmed to IRIN on Wednesday. He said the committees looking at the causes of the crisis, democratisation and governance issues, and peace and security were in progress. "Committee four, on social and economic reconstruction, is not meeting this time because it has to wait for the outcome and findings of the other three committees," he added. Mbita said the delegates were "serious" in their deliberations and had received the new talks facilitator Nelson Mandela "gladly". The Foundation is awaiting the return of one of its top officials, Judge Mark Bomani, who went to confer with Mandela on the talks itinerary, Mbita added.