Mandela offers to move office to Bujumbura

Monday’s agreement elicited mixed reactions from leaders and regional analysts. Most, however, said it was a “major step forward” despite the fact that all parties did not sign. “The agreement is the first step towards peace, the next major thing, is to negotiate a ceasefire,” European Union (EU) envoy to the Great Lakes Aldo Ajello told IRIN. “The rebels should be brought on board,” he added. “Regional leaders had to make last minute lobbying to ensure that the agreement is signed,” Rwandan President Paul Kagame told IRIN. “It is a good point for the Burundi peace process,” he said. Mandela told delegates he would move his office to Burundi “before the ink dries” to make sure the momentum is maintained. His team has set up an implementation monitoring committee comprising of a representative of the UN Secretary-General, the OAU, EU and one from the region. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni told IRIN that the region will get involved “more than before” to ensure implementation. Thirteen of the 19 parties involved in the negotiations signed the agreement on Monday. The parties were FRODEBU, CNDD, UPRONA, PARENA, the government, the national assembly, ABASA, INKIZO, PP, PTI, PALIPEHUTU, RPB and FROLINA. One party, PRP did not sign saying it needed time to study the document then make a decision in the next 30 days given by the facilitation team. AV-INTWARE reversed its decision and signed on Tuesday. According to regional analyst Jan Van Eck, the signing was just a political negotiation, “real negotiations are yet to start”. “The general view is that we still do not have a definitive agreement,” he told IRIN. “This is just a road map, proper negotiations are to begin,” he added.