A new facilitator should be appointed without delay because the negotiations were now “at a crucial phase”, the letter stated. Central issues such as the cessation of violence, transitional institutions, the forces of law and order, and security still had to be negotiated and resolved. While it was up to the international community to propose a facilitator, one or other of the parties could become antagonistic to a single facilitator and the Burundi government proposed “two or three assistants to form a collegium”. The criteria used should include: international stature and moral authority; neutrality and independence of mind; acceptability by the principal parties to the negotiations; and an awareness of the urgent need for a cessation of hostilities coupled with the determination to achieve that, the letter added.
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