Minister comments on forthcoming meeting

Burundi’s Minister for the Peace Process, Ambroise Niyonsaba, said on Monday that “little” was expected from the meeting of signatories to the Arusha peace accord which is slated for 25 and 28 November, private Burundi Umwizero radio reported. He, however, expressed hope that “all signatories would work tirelessly to cover the whole agenda”. The meeting is scheduled to discuss the timetable for the implementation of the accord, the transition, technical issues and the elimination of contradictions. According to Niyonsaba, the meeting was organised following a request by the signatory parties to the mediator, Nelson Mandela, to allow them to continue discussing the issues which they had not exhausted.

“I held a meeting with the European Union (EU) special envoy to the Great Lakes [Aldo Ajello], and we agreed that for the sake of the Paris summit and the success of the peace process, it was necessary for the signatory parties and all Burundians to work tirelessly to implement the peace process as soon as possible,” he said. He said that the implementation of the agreement with all its provisions without a ceasefire “was really difficult”. Ajello has indicated that the agreement could be implemented without a ceasefire. “We can envisage that all the signatories agree to do what they have undertaken to do, in particular putting pressure jointly on the armed groups to stop the violence against civilians, and if they do not stop, we would together call upon the regional and the international community to impose sanctions on them,” Niyonsaba added.