FDD ready to go to Arusha

The main rebel leader, Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurikiye, has said his group - the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) - is now willing to take part in the Arusha peace process. The South African news agency (SAPA) said the announcement was made by Burundi talks facilitator Nelson Mandela after he met Ndayikengurukiye in South Africa on Monday. However, the rebel leader put forward “non-negotiable” conditions for his participation, including the dismantling of regroupment camps in Burundi and the release of prisoners. “Nothing can be discussed as long as those [regrouped] people are not released and allowed to return home,” he told the BBC Kirundi service. “Nothing is possible as long as people who voted in favour of democracy are in jails.” “We shall go to Arusha once those things have been done,” Ndayikengurukiye stressed. He added that a political solution would take precedence. “Military reforms will come later,” he said.

Burundi analyst Jan van Eck of the South Africa-based Centre for Conflict Resolution described the move as a “great achievement and a major step forward” for the Arusha process. “There is now a genuine tone of seriousness to the talks,” he told IRIN on Tuesday. The development could really move the process forward as there could be genuine discussions on the cessation of hostilities between the belligerents. Van Eck said the FDD was giving out a “serious signal”. He believed the other rebel group previously absent from the talks - PALIPEHUTU’s Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) - would also soon announce their participation, making Arusha a “very viable process”. He added that the Arusha process would probably now gain more legitimacy inside Burundi. “We are now into negotiating mode,” he said. “Both sides [rebels and government] have their demands, they can now negotiate.”