DATE=1/15/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=BURUNDI PEACE PROCESS
NUMBER=5-45254
BYLINE=CHALLISS MCDONOUGH
DATELINE=BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Former South African President Nelson Mandela
is making his first trip as the new chief mediator of
the Burundi peace process. On Sunday he visits the
site of the peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, and then
heads to New York to address a special session of the
United Nations Security Council on the Burundi
conflict. Mr. Mandela faces a big challenge in
bringing the warring parties toward a lasting
agreement. But as V-O-A's Challiss McDonough reports,
people in Burundi's capital are optimistic about the
chances for peace.
TEXT: All the major political parties in Burundi say
they were getting very close to an agreement when
mediator Julius Nyrere died in October. But they admit
they were still at odds on several key issues.
Government and opposition leaders alike say they hope
new mediator Nelson Mandela can bridge the divide and
finally bring peace to this tortured country.
Ambroise Niyonsaba is the Burundian minister in charge
of the peace process, and the chief government
negotiator at the Arusha talks.
/// FIRST NIYONSABA ACT ///
We have not come to a conclusion, but we are
heading to the conclusions.
/// END ACT ///
He says there are several key issues that negotiators
will have to address when the talks resume, including
security and reconciliation. The Arusha talks have
gone on despite continued, often intense, fighting
between the government and two main rebel factions.
Analyst Jan Van Eck of the Center for Conflict
Resolution has been following the talks since the
beginning. Mr. Van Eck says Mr. Mandela's biggest
challenge in the peace process will be to involve the
two rebel groups that did not take part in the talks
before.
/// FIRST VAN ECK ACT ///
Those are the two groups who are the main rebel
armies. They caused most of the deaths from the
rebel side. And without them you cannot have a
peace. You can negotiate a political agreement,
but you cannot implement it.
/// END ACT ///
Burundian officials and opposition leaders agree that
the absence of the rebel factions and the lack of a
cease-fire between the warring parties have been major
obstacles to finding a lasting peace. But the peace
process minister, Mr. Niyonsaba, says it looks like
Mr. Mandela is willing to rise to the challenge.
/// SECOND NIYONSABA ACT ///
We think the new mediation is prepared to
include everybody in the process. We don't know
exactly how he will do it, but President Mandela
has already made the declaration that he will
try to include everybody, either directly or
parallel with the rebels and the government.
/// END ACT ///
The appointment of Mr. Mandela as mediator appears to
have injected some momentum into the peace process.
Mr. Van Eck says the new mediator has an opportunity
to correct several things that went wrong with the
peace process under Mr. Nyrere. He says some parties
thought the former Tanzanian president was less than
neutral.
/// SECOND VAN ECK ACT ///
The complaint came specifically from the
government and other minority parties, who felt
that the mediation was against the minority who
held the power. Whether it was right or wrong,
that was the perception, and it led to an
impasse in the negotiations because of a lack of
trust. To the extent that President Mandela is
able to obtain the trust of all the key
political parties, that environment will
improve, and it is very likely that the impasse
can be broken.
/// END ACT ///
Many people believe Mr. Mandela's experience in
leading South Africa through its transition from the
apartheid system will boost the chances for peace in
Burundi.
/// BEGIN OPT ///
Domitien Ndayizeye is the leader of the opposition
Frodebu party.
/// NDAYIZEYE FRENCH ACT FADES UNDER ///
He says, for us, Nelson Mandela is a good intermediary
because he has the experience. And he says, South
Africa's situation was similar to Burundi's, so we can
profit from South Africa's experience.
Like South Africa, Burundi has long been governed by a
minority ethnic group accused of mistreating the
majority. Analysts like Mr. Van Eck say the largely
Tutsi government is nervous about turning over power
to the majority Hutus. But he says Mr. Mandela is in
a position to ease those fears, because South Africa's
transition to majority rule was peaceful. Mr.
Niyonsaba, the peace process minister, says the
transition to a fully representative democracy is one
of the main issues to be addressed in Arusha.
/// THIRD NIYONSABA ACT ///
We need an electoral system that allows all of
the communities in Burundi to be really involved
in the institutions and so on.
/// END ACT ///
/// END OPT ///
Both sides in Burundi's civil war have been accused of
brutality. Each group has good reason to fear and
distrust the other. But Mr. Nyonsaba and other
Burundian leaders say South Africa shows it is
possible to move beyond the fear and distrust of the
past and live together in peace. They say Mr.
Mandela's appointment as mediator has revived hope
that Burundi can accomplish the same feat. Some
predict there could be a peace agreement within
months. (Signed)
NEB/cm/gm-T/gm
15-Jan-2000 20:59 PM EDT (16-Jan-2000 0159 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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