Mandela urges all-inclusive talks

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has called for all-inclusive peace talks in Burundi, saying all sides to the conflict were to blame for tens of thousands of deaths in the country’s civil war. Addressing Burundian parties in Arusha, Tanzania, on Sunday, in his new role as Burundi peace facilitator, Mandela said the “daily slaughter of men, women and children is an indictment against each and every one of you”. “This process must be all inclusive. It must include not only the 18 political parties [currently taking part], but also armed groups on the ground,” he added. Under the mediation of ex-Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, armed rebel groups such as the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) had been excluded from the talks. Mandela also announced he had sent invitations to world leaders, including US President Bill Clinton and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia , to attend a plenary session on Burundi in Arusha next month, news organisations reported. He said the aim was to make external parties work together to end the conflict. “In Africa, we must try to speak with one voice,” he stressed, saying the Middle East peace process had failed because foreign mediators had been competing. Burundi’s Peace Process Minister Ambroise Niyonsaba hailed Mandela’s speech, saying he believed the former president was “really committed” to ending the conflict. However he added that his government would like the facilitation team to find out exactly who the rebel leaders were and what they wanted “so that we can make a proposal with all the necessary information”. Mandela has now gone to New York where he is due to address the UN Security Council this week on the Burundi situation.