Buyoya says FDD should be given time

President Pierre Buyoya has acknowledged that the rebel Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) may need more time to get to grips with the peace process, and said it was necessary to reach a peace accord that took everyone’s interests into account. “The FDD must be helped to find its way in its own time,” he told the Belgian daily ‘Le Soir’. He said the government was in favour of a system of guarantees for the peace process. Asked about the rebels’ demand that foreign troops should be sent to Burundi, he replied that the government “could accept the presence of foreign military observers”. “But we don’t want an occupation force,” he stressed. “There is no question of handing over our security to someone else. If some people are afraid, if foreign technical assistance is necessary, we are ready to discuss it. But all that has to be discussed face to face with the rebels.”