DATE=10/27/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=BURUNDI-NYERERE
NUMBER=5-44623
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: While fighting is on the rise in Burundi's
civil war, talks to end the ethnic violence remain
suspended after the death of mediator Julius Nyerere.
As V-O-A's Scott Stearns reports, finding a
replacement for Mr. Nyerere may be as divisive as the
conflict itself.
TEXT: The former Tanzanian president spent years at
the center of Burundi peace talks, working to build
dialogue even before the army returned to power in a
1996-coup.
Mr. Nyerere's mediation faced opposition from
Burundi's ethnic Tutsi military. President Pierre
Buyoya accused him of favoring rebels, who are drawn
largely from Burundi's Hutu majority.
In a letter to U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan,
President Buyoya has said it is up to the
international community to come up with a new mediator
for Burundi. He does not want someone from a
neighboring state and is believed to favor a South
African.
Though President Buyoya wrote of Mr. Nyerere's --
great personal qualities -- he also expressed his
government's deep disagreement over how talks had been
handled. The government's resistance to meet rebels
will only grow deeper as attacks on the capital
continue and talks do not.
With regional economic sanctions lifted earlier this
year, Burundi's government will not walk out on the
talks. But both sides are likely to resist efforts to
continue the dialogue without a new mediator in place.
Mr. Nyerere succeeded in broadening Burundi's peace
process by including more prominent Hutu leaders, who
must also be assured of a new mediator's impartiality.
Finish President Martti Ahtisaari says Mr. Nyerere's
effort on Burundi will be hard to match.
/// AHTISAARI ACT ///
Until the end, he was a tireless mediator and
peace builder. The European Union and the
entire international community are very grateful
for his enormous contributions to the peace
process following the crisis in Burundi and the
Great Lakes region.
/// END ACT ///
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi has been central to
regional policy on Burundi, pushing sanctions
following the 1996-coup. Speaking at the funeral of
the man known as "Mwalimuu" -- Kiswahili for teacher -
- President Moi said African leaders and the
international community must not allow Mr. Nyerere's
work to go unfinished.
/// FIRST MOI ACT ///
The people of this region, with the help of all
you from around the world, should ensure that
Mwalimu's efforts do not come to naught. I
believe that his efforts will be continued so
that the people of Burundi can attain lasting
peace.
/// END ACT ///
Regional diplomats want to see a recommitment from the
international community, which has largely funded the
peace process and will likely have a say in who
replaces Mr. Nyerere.
With that search underway, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright is promising to continue existing
efforts to end fighting in Burundi and the civil war
in neighboring Congo.
/// ALBRIGHT ACT ///
At President Nyerere's funeral, I had an
opportunity to discuss with a number of
countries involved in the conflict in the Congo
and the Great Lakes about the necessity of
following-up on the peace processes, abiding by
the cease-fires and working out political
solutions. So we are very supportive as best we
can.
/// END ACT ///
Congo's civil war affects the security of all of its
neighbors. Burundian rebels were launching cross-
border raids from Congo before the most recent
fighting. Burundian troops now patrol the Congolese
side of Lake Tanganyika.
Increasingly, regional diplomats believe it is
unlikely to resolve Burundi's ethnic violence without
also ending Congo's civil war. Congolese rebel leader
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba says Mr. Nyerere expressed that
concern in their last conversation.
/// WAMBA ACT ///
He was becoming aware that, in fact, even for
Burundi, you may not succeed if Congo is still
unstable. That, in fact, stability in Congo may
facilitate even resolving the issue in Burundi.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Wamba says Mr. Nyerere was increasingly interested
in Congo. The Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation had also
been sought to help end fighting in Somalia, Angola,
Ethiopia, and Eritrea. On a continent with a surplus
of conflict and a shortage of bona fide statesmen,
what momentum there was in Burundi's peace talks may
be difficult to maintain without Mr. Nyerere.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SS/GE/RAE
27-Oct-1999 07:44 AM EDT (27-Oct-1999 1144 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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