Regional leaders express support for Arusha process

The presidents of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda ended their summit in Entebbe on Friday with a call on all sides in the Burundi conflict to desist from attacking non-combatants and their property. In a communique, received by IRIN on Friday, Presidents Pierre Buyoya, Benjamin Mkapa and Yoweri Museveni noted the “historical good neighbourliness” between Burundi and Tanzania and agreed that “existing mechanisms of consultations regarding border issues...be expeditiously implemented”. Relations between Burundi and Tanzania are very tense due Bujumbura’s assertion that rebels are operating out of refugee camps in western Tanzania.

Tanzania has consistently denied the charges. The communique said the three leaders believed the solution to the Burundi conflict lay in the rapid conclusion of the Arusha peace process under the facilitation of former South African president Nelson Mandela, who is due to pay his first visit to Arusha in his new capacity on Sunday. They called for an enabling environment in Arusha so that all stakeholders, including the armed groups, could take part in the peace process.