Nyerere meeting intended to heal FRODEBU split

A senior delegation of the Front pour la democratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), headed by first vice-president Frederic Bamvuginyumvira, which met Arusha talks mediator Julius Nyerere in Dar es Salaam over the weekend, was attempting to resolve a serious party split in advance of the next scheduled peace talks on 5 July, media sources reported on Monday. The Tanzanian ‘Guardian’ newspaper quoted sources in Bujumbura as saying that the closed-door talks were intended to heal a rift between the faction supporting national chairman Dr Jean Minani, who is in exile in Tanzania, and that of its secretary-general, Augustin Nzojibwami. There existed a risk of FRODEBU splitting further, with its domestic wing yearning for greater influence in government, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) stated in a report received by IRIN on Monday. The split is considered a threat to the Arusha talks, which donors are expecting to make “substantial progress” as a precondition to providing additional funding, the EIU added. International protest at editor’s arrest Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) on Monday protested against what it called the illegal and unfounded detention of Jean-Claude Kavumbagu, head of the Burundian press agency Net Press. In a statement received by IRIN, RSF said Kavumbagu was arrested on 17 June for allegedly violating a law obliging newspapers to register for copyright but that the proceedings were “unfounded and contrary to Burundi law”. Claiming that Kavumbagu may be a victim of “politically-motivated considerations,” RSF demanded that he be freed immediately and that “Net Press be allowed to continue to publish its daily reports with complete freedom.”