Belgium pledges to increase development aid

Belgium's minister for development cooperation, Armand de Decker, arrived in Bujumbura on Sunday and pledged to increase his country's financial aid to its former colony. "We are happy with the way Burundians have smoothly conducted the end of the transition government, and we are going to back the new government," he said on Sunday on arrival at the Bujumbura International Airport. He said the aim of his visit was to set up of a joint committee of Burundian and Belgian experts to recommend ways in which Belgium could help. "We need to set up a permanent development programme to fight against poverty in Burundi," he said. Decker identified health as one of the sectors Belgium plans at finance The Belgian defence minister, André Flahaut, was also in Burundi to discuss ways of increasing training of the Burundi military and police.