Rebel leader refuses to sign accord

Rebel leader Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye has said he is attending the Arusha peace talks to support the process, but not to negotiate, the Internews service reported on Friday. Ndayikengurukiye, who leads the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces de defense pour la democratie (CNDD-FDD) told journalists his group would wait until the accord was signed and then produce its “plan” for separate negotiations. The CNDD-FDD leader, who is taking part in the peace process for the first time, said his movement was not concerned by the draft peace accord as it was not one of the parties mentioned as negotiators in the document. “How do you expect me to sign something that others have not been able to agree on for two years?” he asked. “When there is a return to democracy, when we come back to a situation of legitimacy, then we can negotiate.”

Meanwhile, four Tutsi parties dismissed the draft accord as
“unacceptable”, Internews said. The four - RADDES, PRP, INKINZO and ANADDE - said the facilitation team had “ignored everything” they had outlined as fundamental to the peace process. In particular, they said, the draft failed to mention a UN Security Council report that recognised a genocide had taken place against the Tutsis in 1993.