Crunch time for Burundi talks

Burundi delegates face Mandela's deadline for peace accord

By Chris Simpson in Bujumbura

Burundian delegates have begun a fresh round of talks in Arusha, Tanzania, aimed at moving Burundi towards a peace agreement.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has set 28 August as the target date for the signing of an accord to end the six year old conflict in which over 200,000 people have been killed.

But a draft peace plan presented in July by Mr Mandela has faced strong criticism from the Burundian Government, rebel movements and several of the main political parties.

Some of the delegates flying out to Arusha from Bujumbura on Sunday made it clear that the deadline set by Mr Mandela was completely unfeasible.

Mr Mandela recently met Burundi's President, Pierre Buyoya, and is thought likely to have new contacts with Burundian rebel groups in South Africa in the coming days.

Obstacles

If Mandela's deadline is to hold, the new round of peace talks in Arusha will have to deal with a series of hugely contentious issues.

Mr Mandela says the main differences in the latter stages of the negotiations concern arrangements for a ceasefire in Burundi and the type of political transition which should be brought in.

President Buyoya's government is opposed to the Mandela peace plan

But there are also strong disagreements between the competing political blocs about the kind of electoral system Burundi should have, about the nature of its armed forces and the treatment of political prisoners.

There are conflicting demands from different groups, Hutu and Tutsi, on how to tackle Burundi's past, and how best to apportion responsibility to the mass killings which took place in 1972 and 1993.

Delegates to the Arusha conference have described the draft agreement presented by Mr Mandela last month as simply a working document which needed massive changes rather than minor alterations. That also seems to be the view of the Burundian Government.

Returning from a three-day visit to South Africa, Mr Buyoya described his meeting there with Mr Mandela as very positive.

But government ministers have warned both publicly and privately that the draft agreement is unacceptable in its current form and clearly resent much of the radical restructuring now being proposed.