Peace talks facilitator ends visits

The newly appointed facilitator of planned peace talks between the Burundian government and the country's remaining rebel group, Charles Nqakula, who is the South African minister for safety and security, ended a familiarisation visit to Burundi on Friday. No date has been set for the talks, Nqakula said when he left the capital, Bujumbura, after a two-day visit during which he met President Pierre Nkurunziza as well as representatives of a faction of the rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL), led by Jean Bosco Sindayigaya. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he visited before his Bujumbura trip, Nqakula met officials of the other FNL faction headed by Agathon Rwasa. In April, South African President Thabo Mbeki named Nqakula as facilitator of the peace negotiations to replace former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who was relieved of his duties. Nqakula said he also visited Kampala, Uganda, where he held talks with President Yoweri Museveni. Uganda currently chairs the Great Lakes Peace Initiative for Burundi, a forum established by the region's heads of state to help bring lasting peace to the country now emerging from 12 years of civil war. South Africa agreed to assume the role of peace mediator in the talks the Burundian government and the two FNL factions, following a request from the Burundian government and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete. Tanzania was initially to facilitate the talks, and officials of Rwasa's FNL faction have been in Dar es Salaam since March awaiting the start of the talks. The FNL split into two factions in 2005. Sindayigaya's faction has stopped fighting and is ready to negotiate with the Burundian government. In March, Rwasa said he would also negotiate and since then he and his negotiating team have been in Dar es Salaam waiting for the talks to begin. However, Rwasa's FNL is still active in the Burundian provinces of Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza with reports of frequent fighting with the army.