Buyoya says appointment “important step”

President Pierre Buyoya, who returned to Burundi on Thursday, said the decision to appoint him as first leader of the transition was an “important step towards implementation of the peace agreement”. Speaking on arrival from the OAU summit in Lusaka, he said the decision had been made by the peace mediator Nelson Mandela after extensive consultations with regional heads of state and the signatories of the Arusha peace accord. “We also believe that this step will open a new way, and instil more vigour into the search for a solution to the other pending problems, especially that of a ceasefire,” Buyoya said, according to Burundi radio. “As you know, some people were claiming that a solution to the [ceasefire] issue could not be found, because the issue of transitional leadership had not been resolved. Therefore, I believe that all that is now out of the way.”