- News>
- World
Burundi interim govt, FDD rebels sign ceasefire
Arusha, Tanzania, Dec 03: Burundi`s government and one of two main rebel forces signed a ceasefire early today to try to end a nine-year-old civil war, and African leaders told the other group to stop fighting as well or face sanctions.
Arusha, Tanzania, Dec 03: Burundi's government and one of two main rebel forces signed a ceasefire early today to try to end a nine-year-old civil war, and African leaders told the other group to stop fighting as well or face sanctions.
''We are on the verge of some pretty robust sanctions that will stop them from fighting,'' Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who chairs a peace process for tiny Burundi, said after the ceasefire was sealed at an African summit. Meeting in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, President Pierre Buyoya of Burundi's interim government shook hands with Pierre Nkuruzinza, leader of the rebel Forces for the Defence of Democracy (fdd), after they signed the accord at a ceremony.
A summit statement said that the FDD would become a political party, adding that the FDD would also take part in ''power-sharing arrangements of the transitional government'' after discussions between the government and FDD about how this could be done.
The ceasefire was signed after months of haggling over the terms of a truce to end a conflict that has claimed 300,000 lives in the small central African country.
Burundi's civil war has pitted rebels from the ethnic Hutu majority against the Tutsi-led army.
A Burundi government sharing power between Hutus and Tutsis was inaugurated last year aiming to steer the country towards reconciliation and democracy.
But until this latest summit in Arusha the government had not managed to sign a ceasefire with either the FDD or the other main rebel group, the Palipehutu-FNL.
''The signing is a victory for all of us. It did not come easily,'' Zuma said. ''The principle of give and take was evident and we were able to produce an African solution.''
The FNL was not invited to the summit because it refused to meet Buyoya for earlier talks in the Tanzanian commercial centre of Dar Es Salaam. Zuma said that the group had set down too many conditions for participation.
''We are on the verge of some pretty robust sanctions that will stop them from fighting,'' Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who chairs a peace process for tiny Burundi, said after the ceasefire was sealed at an African summit. Meeting in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, President Pierre Buyoya of Burundi's interim government shook hands with Pierre Nkuruzinza, leader of the rebel Forces for the Defence of Democracy (fdd), after they signed the accord at a ceremony.
A summit statement said that the FDD would become a political party, adding that the FDD would also take part in ''power-sharing arrangements of the transitional government'' after discussions between the government and FDD about how this could be done.
The ceasefire was signed after months of haggling over the terms of a truce to end a conflict that has claimed 300,000 lives in the small central African country.
Burundi's civil war has pitted rebels from the ethnic Hutu majority against the Tutsi-led army.
A Burundi government sharing power between Hutus and Tutsis was inaugurated last year aiming to steer the country towards reconciliation and democracy.
But until this latest summit in Arusha the government had not managed to sign a ceasefire with either the FDD or the other main rebel group, the Palipehutu-FNL.
''The signing is a victory for all of us. It did not come easily,'' Zuma said. ''The principle of give and take was evident and we were able to produce an African solution.''
The FNL was not invited to the summit because it refused to meet Buyoya for earlier talks in the Tanzanian commercial centre of Dar Es Salaam. Zuma said that the group had set down too many conditions for participation.
Bureau Report