Politicians in South Africa for talks with Mandela

Meanwhile, Burundian political leaders have been arriving in South Africa for talks with the peace mediator, Nelson Mandela, according to Burundi media reports. Parliamentary speaker Leonce Ngendakumana told Burundi radio they would be discussing unresolved issues “namely the transitional leadership and the ceasefire”.

“We believe, as he [Mandela]
said, that there is hope, that we can arrive at some satisfactory
conclusions,” he added. Alphonse Rugambarara, spokesman of the pro-Tutsi, anti-President Buyoya G-8 group, said the ceasefire issue was crucial. “We must know whether he [Mandela] has in fact decided to impose sanctions on the rebels and start negotiations with those who genuinely want peace in Burundi,” the private Azania news agency quoted him as saying. A regional summit in Nairobi last year threatened to impose sanctions on armed rebel groups unless they joined the peace process. Another regional summit is due to take place in Arusha, Tanzania on 23 July.

The internal wing of the opposition FRODEBU party last week appointed Burundi’s Communal Development Minister Denis Nshimirimana as its candidate for the republic’s transitional vice-presidency. Under the three-year transition, proposed by Mandela, a Tutsi president would lead for the first 18 months with a Hutu vice-president, and vice-versa for the next 18 months.