Buyoya says Arusha accords to be signed “soon”

Burundian President Pierre Buyoya on Friday indicated that the Arusha peace accords will soon be signed and that this should not be a surprise to the Burundi people. Radio Burundi quoted Buyoya as saying, on the country’s 38th independence anniversary, that his government would spare no effort for the peace process to come to a successful conclusion and for the accords to be beneficial for all Burundi citizens. He said the integration of the security forces will be carried out the same way it was done in the national assembly and in the government. “The decision will contribute to the restoration of peace,” Buyoya noted. “Furthermore, the issue of security forces has always brought about polemics on each side in the country,” he observed. “With the decision, the issue will cease to exist.” On the issue of political prisoners, President Pierre Buyoya placed detainees in five categories. The first category involved those who killed thousands of innocent Burundi people following the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye. “These are not political prisoners. They are instead true perpetrators of genocide,” he said. The second category comprised those who assassinated Ndadaye, the third category was made up those who plotted to assassinate Buyoya in 1997, the fourth category contained “collaborators of assailants”, and the fifth “those who created and sponsored a militia from Cibitoke [province]”. “All these people must be tried and should answer for their actions,” he said. “Releasing such people would amount to entertaining impunity and genocide”. Genuine political prisoners would be released. Buyoya castigated those clamouring for the deployment of foreign troops in Burundi describing such demands as ridiculous as they would amount to “pure recolonisation” of the country. “Burundians have to work out their own peace,” he added.