Mandela to announce “breakthrough”

The mediator of the Burundi peace process, Nelson Mandela, is poised to announce a “breakthrough” in the process, the South African news agency (SAPA) reported. It quoted him as saying in Johannesburg on Friday that he was optimistic the eight-year civil war would soon be resolved. He added he could not, at this stage, give any further information as it would be a “breach of protocol”. His comments follow talks last week with Burundian President Pierre Buyoya and representatives of the country’s two main parties, the pro-Hutu FRODEBU and the pro-Tutsi UPRONA.

Mandela is expected to make an announcement at a summit of regional leaders, due to be convened soon. Regional analysts told IRIN it is possible agreement has been reached on the issue of the transitional leadership. Smaller parties who did not attend the talks in South Africa have condemned the discussions. The radical Tutsi party PARENA described the talks as a “waste of time”, while the smaller pro-Tutsi parties opposed to Buyoya denounced the government’s “diplomatic dance”.