Burundi peace still elusive

Peace is still a long way off

By Cathy Jenkins in Bujumbura

As the long-awaited date for the signing of a Burundi peace deal draws near, government and rebel parties are continuing to voice serious rebel objections to the draft accord which has been drawn up by mediators.

The former South African President Nelson Mandela, who is overseeing the peace process has set 28 August as the deadline for the signing of the deal, and US President Bill Clinton has been invited to witness the signing.

Nelson Mandela: Deadline for the deal is 28 August

But the government and the rebels say that serious disagreements continue over several major issues.

The war in Burundi which began in 1993 has pitted the mainly Tutsi army against Hutu rebels. An estimated 200,000 people have died, many of them civilians.

Nelson Mandela hopes to bring Burundi's warring parties together in Arusha on Monday to put their signatures to a peace accord to end their war.

Protests

But in Burundi's capital Bujumbura there is little sign of peace about to break out.

Police security was stepped up in the centre of Bujumbura after a group protesting against the draft agreement called for people to stay away from work.

President Buyoya: Unhappy with many aspects of the peace plan

From his office in downtown Bujumbura, Burundi's Information Minister Luc Rukingama listed so many points of disagreement between the government and rebels that it seems impossible that anything has been agreed at all.

Mr Mandela and the mediation team insist that the two years that the parties have had since the peace process was launched has been time enough for them to sort out their differences.

Mr Mandela has told all sides that international patience and money for the peace process are running out, and that the senseless slaugher of civilians must stop.

Long war

For seven years civil war has pitted Hutu rebels against Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army.

Although they form only about 14% of the population, the Tutsis have traditionally dominated Burundi's political and civil institutions.

The draft peace accord aims to address the imbalance, but neither the rebels nor the government are happy.

Burundi's President Piere Buyoya took time to explain the agreement to a cross-section of city officials, several hundred of whom were invited to a special meeting.

The president's position at the moment appears to be that if he must sign something next Monday, then the best he can offer is his signature to those points which have been settled. The rest must be argued over at another time.