Paper questions Mandela mediation

The private newspaper ‘l’Avenir’, which is close to the government, has said the peace mediation of former South African president Nelson Mandela differs little to that of his predecessor, ex-Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere. According to the newspaper, the “methodology is different, but the goal is the same - to empower the ‘genocidaires’”. The paper took issue with the fact that Mandela “believes that the ‘genocidaires’ of the FDD, FNL and FROLINA are liberation movements” in the same way as the ANC. “He has made himself the advocate of these groups by pleading for their three demands: release of political prisoners, dismantling the regroupment camps and army reform,” the paper wrote. “What is very surprising is that Mandela has never pleaded on behalf of the mainly-Tutsi displaced people...,” it said. “It is possible that Mandela will fail, because if he does not master national realities, there is only one way out.”