Newspaper believes accord will be signed

The private Burundi newspaper ‘La Verite’ has described the proposed peace accord as “inevitable and beneficial”. In a commentary, the paper - which is close to the radical Tutsi PARENA party - said the peace accord would not only benefit the country, but also those who “performed zealously” throughout the negotiations. “Don’t let the politicians fool the stricken people of our country,” the paper wrote. “They will sign on 28 August.” It asked why the goverment was sensitising the country, over national radio, to the prospect of a peace accord if it did not intend to sign. “Neither do we see why the Arusha peace accords would be rejected by the negotiators as the mediation has only condensed and perfected into a document of 109 pages...their various proposals,” it said.