"Serious issues" under discussion in Arusha

As another round of peace talks within the Arusha process began in the northern Tanzanian town on Tuesday, the facilitators stressed that "serious issues" would be debated. A spokesman for the Nyerere Foundation, Brigadier General Hashim Mbita, said it was hoped "big progress" would have been achieved by June, the independent Hirondelle news agency reported. The next two weeks of talks are designed to prepare the ground for a peace agreement between Burundi's opposing sides, but the Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group has warned that any
accord signed by June would have no validity and would have been prepared in haste. Mbita told reporters this time round, the talks would "go into serious issues of negotiations, rather than pronouncing political statements and political thinkings".

The Burundi government strongly believes the rebel CNDD-FDD faction, which has not been invited to the talks, should be present. It holds rebels of the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) responsible for cross-border attacks from Tanzania and says there can be no solution unless they are included in discussions. According to a Burundi government
statement, the facilitator, ex-Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, told President Pierre Buyoya recently he was prepared to invite CNDD-FDD "but not under the banner of CNDD", which is represented by a faction led by Leonard Nyangoma.