Economic situation threatening peace process

Burundi’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Marc Nteturuye, has warned that the peace process in his country is threatened by a deterioration in people’s purchasing power and urged the international community to support Burundi financially. “Without food, the message of peace cannot be heard,” he told journalists on Friday. He stressed that Mandela did not hold the solution to peace in Burundi. “It lies with Burundi to bury the hatchet,” he said. Nteturuye expressed concern that the unstable situation in the region was not favourable to peace in Burundi. Rebel groups in the region wanted to use Burundi as a new base to “continue their destabilisation”, he warned. In a separate press statement, Burundi’s Permanent Mission to the UN said the humanitarian and security situation in Bujumbura Rural province had improved since the government regrouped the population last October. The statement, received by IRIN on Monday, noted that rebel attacks around the capital had ended and the outlook was “optimistic”. “If this improvement continues, the government will not hesitate to allow the people to go home,” the statement said.