DATE=7/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=MANDELA / BURUNDI (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264658
BYLINE=KATY SALMON
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Government and rebel officials from Burundi
have failed to reach agreement on a peace plan
proposed by former South African President Nelson
Mandela. But as Katy Salmon reports from Nairobi, Mr.
Mandela is still trying to get the parties to sign an
agreement at another meeting in late August.
TEXT: Both Burundi's government and the rebels say
there are serious issues that have to be resolved
before they can sign the draft peace proposal put
forward by Mr. Mandela.
The former South African president did succeed in
bringing the leader of Burundi's main rebel group, the
C-N-D-D, to the negotiating table for the first time.
But the rebels say they will not sign the peace plan
until their concerns are addressed.
Mr. Mandela is pressing both sides to sign the peace
deal in five weeks time. But Burundi's president,
Pierre Buyoya, says it is more important to take time
to reach what he calls an "implementable" agreement.
The latest round of violence in Burundi has claimed
more than 200-thousand lives and uprooted more than
one-million people. It began in 1993 when troops from
the country's ethnic Tutsi minority killed the
country's first democratically elected president, an
ethnic Hutu.
Hutu are a majority in Burundi. But Tutsi have
dominated the government, the army, and the economy
since independence from Belgium in 1962.
Under Mr. Mandela's peace plan, the Tutsi minority
would hand over power to a democratically elected
government within three years. Safeguards would be
built in to protect the minority Tutsi, including a
new upper house of parliament, split equally along
ethnic lines, and an ethnically balanced army.
Mr. Mandela says there are two crucial issues that
need to be resolved -- who should lead a transitional
government until elections are held, and whether a
cease-fire should come before or after the agreement
is signed.
President Buyoya is insisting that a cease-fire be
arranged before the peace agreement is signed. Mr.
Mandela and the rebels believe this can follow the
signing.
Mr. Buyoya also wants to lead any transitional
government. But the Hutu parties say they will not
accept a government led by the president or any of his
cabinet.
The rebels also are demanding direct talks with the
government and the release of all political prisoners
before they sign the accord.
Mr. Mandela also is pushing for political prisoners to
be freed. But Mr. Buyoya says Tutsi will never be
safe if what he calls the "genocidal killers" are
freed.
Mr. Mandela, President Buyoya, and five other African
leaders have left the talks in Arusha, Tanzania. But
the 19 delegations from Burundi will continue talks
until Saturday. (Signed)
NEB/KS/JWH/JP
21-Jul-2000 12:15 PM LOC (21-Jul-2000 1615 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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