Government, rebel group begin peace talks

Peace talks between the government of Burundi and the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL), the country's remaining rebel group, began on Monday in Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. "Today is the opportunity for us to effect a new, hopeful and inclusive political dispensation in Burundi," Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said in his welcoming remarks. "Battles leave social, psychological and political scars among the belligerents as well as innocent bystanders, but every war must end." Burundi is emerging from over a decade of civil war, which erupted in 1993 following the assassination of the country's first democratically elected president, Melchior Ndadaye, who was from the ethnic Hutu majority. Paratroopers of the then-minority, Tutsi-dominated army allegedly killed Ndadaye. At least 300,000 Burundians have died has a result of the war, pitting the mainly Tutsi army against several Hutu rebel groups. Fighting continued between the army and the FNL even after a transitional phase ended in August 2005 with the election of President Pierre Nkurunziza, who previously led the main Hutu rebel movement, the Conseil national pour la défense de la democratie-Forces pour la défense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), which has since become a political party. On Monday, Kikwete told the Burundian government and the FNL that the choice was theirs to bring lasting peace that would end years of suffering for millions of families in the Central African nation. "You can choose to heed the folly of triumphalism and drive your country to ruins," he said. "You can choose to sound the death knell for dialogue and let the guns usurp the place of reason, or, you can choose to honour the toil of great sons of Africa, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere and South Africa's Nelson Mandela, who worked hard for peace in Burundi by agreeing to negotiate earnestly and conclude a peace deal." The late Nyerere, Tanzania's first president, and former South African President Mandela were at one time facilitators of the Burundi peace talks under the Great Lakes Peace Initiative for Burundi, a forum established by the region's heads of state to help bring lasting peace to the country. Uganda currently chairs this regional initiative. South Africa agreed to assume the role of peace mediator in the latest peace talks following a request from the Burundian government and Kikwete. South Africa's safety and security minister, Charles Nqakula, is facilitating the talks, which - in addition to Burundian government representatives and officials of the FNL faction led by Agathon Rwasa - are attended by representatives of the African Union, the United Nations, the governments of the Great Lakes countries and other diplomats. There is no representative of the FNL faction led by Jean Bosco Sindayigaya at the talks. The FNL split into two factions in 2005. Sindayigaya's faction has stopped fighting, but Rwasa's FNL is still active in the Burundian provinces of Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza, with reports of frequent fighting with the army. Rwasa told reporters that his group was ready for peace. However, he said, while his group recognised the Burundi government, he was not happy with the army and police, saying they were the source of insecurity. "They [army and police] detain people, harass and torture them," he said. "There is need for radical reforms of the two institutions." Kikwete, who was involved in the Burundi peace process before he became president in December 2005, said he knew from experience that such negotiations would not be easy. He underscored the need for expediting the process, saying the people of Burundi had been waiting for peace for too long. The leader of the Burundi government's delegation, Home Affairs Minister Evariste Ndayishimiye, said the government seriously needed total peace in the country. "We don't have problems if they [the FNL factions] are cooperative. We can come up with the agreement later today or tomorrow," he said.