Give up armed struggle, Security Council urges rebel groups

As a meeting between Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza got underway on Tuesday in Pretoria, the UN Security Council urged rebel groups in the country to give up their armed struggle and called on the government and all Burundian parties to facilitate access by humanitarian agencies to populations in need. In a statement issued on Monday by council president Mikhail Wehbe of Syria from the UN's New York headquarters, the council welcomed "the relative calm" in the country following attacks in early July by the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) faction led by Agathon Rwasa. Wehbe issued the statement after the 15-member council was briefed on recent developments in Burundi. He reiterated that it was crucial for all Burundian parties to combat impunity, and that the council was ready to consider "possible procedures" for international aid to that end, upon the request of the Burundian government. Wehbe's statement was made as Ndayizeye and Nkurunziza, leader of the largest rebel faction in the country, the Conseil national de defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), began their two-day meeting in Pretoria on power sharing and the transformation of the Burundian army. The meeting was called by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is also the facilitator in the Burundi peace process. The council expressed the hope that the negotiations taking place would lead to the implementation of a comprehensive agreement in time for the next regional summit on Burundi, due to be held later in August. Wehbe said that the council condemned human rights abuses in Burundi, "in particular the atrocities committed against the civilian population and the use of children in warfare", and urged the armed groups to respect the rights of children. The council renewed its appeal to Rwasa's FNL faction to enter "without further delay" into negotiations with the transitional government in order to join the peace process initiated on 28 August 2000 with the signing of the Arusha accord. It appealed to member states of the regional initiative on Burundi "to use all their influence and pressure to compel" Rwasa's faction to engage in peace talks. The council reaffirmed its support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in the country, known as the African Mission in Burundi, and appealed to contributors willing to provide the mission with financial or logistic support to immediately do so.