Parties sign scaled-down accord

Thirteen of the 19 parties, represented at the Arusha peace process in Tanzania, signed a power-sharing deal on Monday aimed at ending Burundi’s brutal civil conflict. Six small hardline Tutsi parties declined to sign, attracting international criticism and fiery criticism from talks’ mediator Nelson Mandela. The former South African president accused the six parties of going back on previous commitments and of trying to sabotage the attempt to end more than seven years of ethnic strife in which thousands of innocent civilians have been butchered.

Burundi’s President Pierre Buyoya put his signature to the deal for the government, along with the National Assembly, all seven of the pro-Hutu parties and at least half of the Group of Ten (G-10) pro-Tutsi parties, but the latter expressed reservations on certain points. The two principal armed rebel Hutu groups also did not sign, but the FDD (Forces pour la defense de la democratie) sent a message of support.

Despite the presence of US President Bill Clinton and over a dozen regional leaders, the deal looked set to unravel until the last moment as the G-10 sought to reopen several dossiers. Even the scaled-down agreement was up in the air until the last moment.
Mandela vented his frustration at the signing, boycotted by several Tutsi leaders. “Something disturbing has occurred. I do not think there are many countries where leaders had undermined an agreement which they had solemnly made to the facilitator and to the general public here in Arusha,” he said.