Peace accord to be signed on 20 July

The facilitator of the Burundi peace process, Nelson Mandela, on Tuesday said that the government of Burundi and rebel groups would sign a long-awaited peace agreement on 20 July in Arusha, Tanzania. His announcement over South African state radio was confirmed by his spokeswoman who told IRIN that all the 19 groups involved in negotiating an end to the seven-year conflict were now ready to sign. “This is quite a breakthrough and I can confirm that all the groups, and I repeat, all the groups involved, will be on hand to sign the Arusha agreement,” she added.

A source on the facilitation team told IRIN that “negotiators are ready to sign agreements drawn up by the peace committees dealing with the nature of the conflict, economic reconstruction and the return of refugees and the committee dealing with democracy and good governance”. The next round of talks are expected to begin on 19 July in Arusha.