Belgium to give US $5 million for protection force

Belgium is prepared to contribute US $5 million for a South African protection force to oversee the installation of a transitional power-sharing government in Burundi, AFP reported on Tuesday.

"Belgium and the European Union are currently reviewing how we can help the implementation of the next phase of the Arusha accords, which call for the inauguration on 1 November of a transitional government," Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said at a news conference after a meeting with Burundi peace mediator and former South African president Nelson Mandela.

"For Belgium, we are talking about five million dollars. For the entire European Union, we are talking about at least 23 million dollars," Verhofstadt was quoted by AFP as saying.

Mandela said South Africa was ready to send a 700-man protection force for the Hutu leaders who had to flee Burundi in 1993.

"We have no doubt [that the transitional government] will begin. We see nothing that could prevent its installation on 1 November," Mandela added.

Burundi has been at civil war since 1993, pitting Hutu rebels against a minority Tutsi government and army. An estimated 200,000 people have since died in the conflict. Under the proposed transitional government accord, current Burundian President Pierre Buyoya would serve as the first president for 18 months. During this time, the vice-president would be Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu from the Front for Democracy in Burundi (Frodebu). A Hutu, seconded by Tutsi vice-president, would lead the country for the following 18 months.