Tutsi parties slam government and rebels

Provincial governors in Burundi and the mayor of Bujumbura have called on rebel groups to take part in the Arusha negotiations “without delay”, the private Netpress news agency reported. It said they “vigorously condemn the terrorist gangs which continue to kill innocent people”.
They warned that if the rebels stayed out of the negotiating process, they would call for the implementation of sanctions against the rebels contained in the Arusha peace accord. Echoing the government’s line, the governors called for a ceasefire in Burundi’s civil conflict before the establishment of transitional institutions.

The 19 signatories to the peace accord are currently meeting in the Tanzanian town of Arusha to try and come up with the names of the transitional leaders.

The mediator, Nelson Mandela, has proposed splitting the three-year transition into two 18-month periods, to be led first by a Tutsi president and Hutu vice-president, and then vice versa. But the Tutsi parties are divided in their choice of leader, with the G-6 group of smaller Tutsi parties vehemently opposed to the current president, Pierre Buyoya.

On Monday, the G-6 group accused the government of “diversionary tactics”, the Hirondelle news agency reported.

In a statement, the group also condemned the recent rebel offensive in the Kinama suburb of Bujumbura, saying it went against “all the statements of good intent” by the mediator. The statement warned however that the government “should not use the excuse of the war to refuse to implement the agreement which gives the signatories (including the government) the necessary instruments to marginalise these terrorists politically and militarily”. The G-6 group also said that if provisions of the Arusha agreement to isolate the rebels were not implemented, “our coalition reserves the right to distance itself from the agreement and consider other options that would allow it to fulfil its obligations of fighting genocide and bringing real security to the population”.

South African Vice-President Jacob Zuma, who is trying to encourage talks between the government and rebel groups, told the delegates in Arusha the peace accord could be endangered by the government’s insistence that a ceasefire must be in place before the transitional institutions could be established, Netpress reported.