Burundi: Peace deal without peace

Will the deal allow thousands of refugees to go home?

East African heads of state are meeting in Arusha on Monday to sign the latest peace plan for Burundi.

There was initial optimism when Nelson Mandela announced the deal just before the OAU summit in Lusaka two weeks ago.

But now at least 10 of the 19 signatories now say they are opposed to its provisions.

Some groups want President Buyoya to step down straight away

Under the terms of the Mandela plan, current President Pierre Buyoya - an ethnic Tutsi - would remain in power, as the head of a transitional government for 18 months with a Hutu vice-president.

They would then switch roles before elections in 2004.

But many parties - including several ethnic Tutsi groups - don't want Mr Buyoya to stay in power.

After a meeting with Burundi's leader, Mattias Hitimana, chairman of the Tutsi PRP party told the BBC's Focus on Africa: "We never agreed that Buyoya would lead the first transition."

The signatories can't get along so we, the people are, as always, the victims

Apollinaire Sichahyohe
Bujumbura resident

In the meantime, there has been no let up in the civil war, which has killed 200,000 people since 1983.

In another worrying sign, only four heads of state out of the 14 originally invited are now expected to make the trip to Arusha.

Mr Buyoya and Tanzania's Benjamin Mkapa are already there, with the presidents of Kenya and Uganda scheduled to arrive on Monday.

Sceptical

Earlier, Mr Mandela's spokesman had said that South African Vice-President Jacob Zuma, who is trying to mediate a ceasefire in Burundi, would also attend the ceremony.

Against such a backdrop, residents of the capital, Bujumbura, are sceptical.

"Arusha won't solve our problems," said Apollinaire Sichahyohe, a Tutsi.

"The signatories can't get along so we, the people are, as always, the victims."

Others doubted that Mr Buyoya, who has twice seized power in coups, would step down when his time was up.

"We fear that in 18 months he will not give away the power and there will be another war," said an elderly Hutu man.

Talking up the prospects of peace, Mr Buyoya has said that four African countries - Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Senegal - were ready to send peace-keepers if a ceasefire was agreed.

But correspondents say that is a distant prospect.