African peace mission commanders in place

The high command of the African peace mission in Burundi is now complete, with the arrival in the capital, Bujumbura, on Monday of 11 officers from Mozambique. They join officers from Ethiopia and South Africa already in Burundi.

"The army staff of the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB) is now complete, with the arrival of the 11 Mozambican officers. Sixteen officers from Ethiopia - among them the deputy commander of AMIB - have been in Bujumbura since 11 May. South Africans - including the force commander - have been in place since March, so the process of deploying all peacekeeping troops is moving forward," Maj Botha, a spokesman of the South African Protection Support Detachment, told reporters in Bujumbura. "We hope all remaining troops will be in Bujumbura in the early days of June," he added.

The entire force will ultimately comprise 2,870 troops: 1,600 South Africans, 290 Mozambicans and 980 Ethiopians. They will help demobilise, disarm and reintegrate combatants of three Hutu rebel groups fighting against the Tutsi-led army as part of the ceasefire agreements signed by three rebel movements and the government in October and December last year.

Combatants of two minor rebel groups - the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) faction led by Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye, and the Forces nationales de liberation faction of Alain Mugabarabona - have declared themselves ready to be cantoned. Three cantonment areas are currently being established respectively in eastern, central and northwestern Burundi.

An AMIB press release on Sunday said the first cantonment area to be deployed will be at Muyange in the northwestern province of Bubanza, by June 2003, and will be manned by South Africans. The Mozambican deployment in the first cantonment area is planned for later in June.

No agreement about cantonment has been reached between the main Hutu FDD rebel faction, led by Pierre Nkurunziza, and the government.