Peace summit ends without agreement

A regional heads of state summit on Burundi ended early Tuesday without an agreement being reached between the transitional government of Burundi and the main Hutu rebel group on the country's political and security issues. Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa told reporters that the talks had been "very frank" and had not "collapsed". However, Pierre Nkurunziza's faction of the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Force pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) rebel group blamed the Burundian government's intransigence for the lack of an agreement. Following the talks, which went on throughout Monday, Mkapa, in his capacity as vice chairman of the Regional Initiative on Burundi, said that there remained "a couple of hurdles" that needed further "reflection and introspection". He added that he would give a progress report to the Ugandan president and chairman of the initiative on Burundi, Yoweri Museveni. "After further consultations, we will resume the meetings and we hope that time will remove any further roadblocks in the implementation [of the ceasefire]," he said, without giving a timeframe for further meetings. The summit, which began late on Monday, was attended by presidents Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa; the facilitator of the Burundi peace process and deputy president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and representatives from countries in the region. Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and Nkurunziza headed their respective delegations. While the CNDD-FDD said it remained optimistic of a breakthrough in future talks, and reconfirmed its commitment to halt attacks against government troops while negotiations continue, it blamed the government for the deadlock. "We accepted the region's proposal of CNDD-FDD filling 40 percent of the future army, police and intelligence services, but it was the government that would not accept it," Salvator Ntacobamaza, the CNDD-FDD assistant secretary-general, said after the talks. On the distribution of political powers, Ntacobamaza reaffirmed the movement's demand for the position of the Speaker of the House, which it is, so far, not being offered. The region has proposed the post of minister of state, while the government has offered a second Deputy Speaker of the House, but neither appears to satisfy CNDD-FDD. Analysts at the talks said that through these negotiations, the CNDD-FDD was trying to ensure that on the political front, power in Burundi was seen to be distributed evenly between the three main political parties: UPRONA, FRODEBU and CNDD-FDD. Although no government representatives were available for comment following the conclusion of the summit, government spokesman Pacrace Cimpaye told reporters on Monday that after the failure of talks between the government and CNDD-FDD in Kampala last week, his delegation had been more satisfied with the progress that was being made in Dar es Salaam. However, following yet another inconclusive round of talks, observers said that pressure for a solution would increase as patience and time for the implementation of the 2 December 2002 ceasefire, signed between the transitional government and CNDD-FDD in Arusha, northern Tanzania, wore out. Mkapa said that despite the failure to reach an agreement in Dar es Salaam, Mozambican Chissano had "raised the spirits" of those involved in the process by confirming that the Mozambican contingent of the African Union peacekeeping force would be in Burundi "in the next couple of days".