CNDD-FDD faction inclusion in talks “being negotiated”

A breakaway faction of the Burundi rebel group Conseil national pour la defense de democratie (CNDD), the CNDD-FDD faction, may join the Arusha peace process next week, a source close to the talks told IRIN today. A spokesman for the CNDD-FDD told IRIN on Wednesday that it had not yet officially been invited, but warned that if the CNDD-FDD “is not involved in the peace process, there will be no peace”. The CNDD-FDD is led by former CNDD chief-of-staff Colonel Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye. A Burundi analyst told IRIN that the original CNDD, led by Leonard Nyangoma has no real military power any more, and that “Jean-Bosco calls the shots militarily”.

The absence of the CNDD-FDD from the Arusha peace process undermined the credibility of a ceasefire agreed last year. The analyst told IRIN it was “ludicrous” to have attempted a ceasefire without “the armed party”. The source close to the talks told IRIN the decision on CNDD-FDD’s participation in the discussions set to start on Monday would be made by the current participants of the talks, not by facilitator Julius Nyerere. The participation of CNDD-FDD in addition to the original CNDD was being “negotiated amongst the parties... once they are agreed he [Nyerere] has no problem.” The talks are set to last until 28 January, and will overlap with a regional summit on 23 January that is expected to suspend sanctions on Burundi.