Buyoya unhappy with Mandela's grasp of issues

At the ongoing peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, Burundian President Pierre Buyoya has criticised the facilitator, Nelson Mandela, for "simplifying" Burundi's problems. The former South African president on Tuesday accused Burundi's leaders of a "lack of urgency" in finding peace and told them this "suggests you don't mind people being slaughtered". Buyoya replied that Mandela did not understand the issues, news organisations reported.

Tutsi-dominated parties, meanwhile, have reacted angrily to Mandela's remarks that the Tutsi minority should relinquish its monopoly on power. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, who leads the hardline PARENA party, told IRIN in Arusha that Mandela was seeking to raise the ethnic issue. "The Hutu-Tutsi question should not have been raised by the facilitator because we had already discussed it, unless he wants to take us back to the nature of the conflict," Bagaza said. Another Tutsi leader, Mathias Hitimana of the monarchist Parti Royaliste Parlementaire (PRP), said it was "wrong to promote the idea that the Tutsi monopolise everything". "This sends a bad signal back home," he told IRIN. "The Tutsi are likely to be scared of any compromise from the talks, while the Hutu will interpret the comments as supporting their cause."

However Jean Minani, who leads the exiled wing of the opposition FRODEBU party, said the issue should be discussed. "We must talk to those who are complaining and find out exactly what they are worried about," he said.