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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

BURUNDI: Rebel faction now holds talks with government officials

BUJUMBURA, 3 June 2003 (IRIN) - Representatives of the Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL) rebel faction led by Agathon Rwasa and Burundian government officials have been meeting in Switzerland since Saturday to discuss the possibility of holding peace negotiations, government and FNL sources told IRIN on Tuesday.

Rwasa's faction is the only rebel group that has not signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burundian government, and its troops continue to stage sporadic attacks against government forces in parts of the country.

The meeting is being held in the Swiss city of Caux, with the FNL delegation being led by the movement's vice-president, Jean Bosco Sindayigaya. Former Minister for Peace Ambroise Niyonsaba leads the government delegation.

The exact aim of the Swiss talks remains unclear. The Speaker of the Burundian parliament and leader of the principal Hutu party, Front pour la Democratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), said the meeting marked the preliminary peace negotiations between FNL and the government while FNL spokesman Pasteur Habimana said the meeting was between the group and representatives of the ethnic Tutsi community.

"Discussions taking place in Switzerland are preliminary contacts in order to prepare real peace talks with the FNL of Agathon Rwasa, which is still rejecting any talks with Burundi government," Minani said.

However, Habimana said: "We are not discussing with the government but with our Tutsi brothers. Among the government's delegation are some Hutu senior members of FRODEBU but we refused to meet them."

Habimana said FNL did not have a problem with Hutus but with Tutsis. "That is why we want to meet Tutsi officers of the army and other Tutsi officials who have power in the government," he said.

He added that his group had refused to accept the transitional government formed after a peace accord signed in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2000 because "negotiators in Arusha did not tacked the real problem".

"Burundi's problem is not power-sharing between Hutus and Tutsis, but hatred and mistrust between the two communities," Habimana said. "Both Bahutu and Batutsi killed each other, we have to analyse the causes of these repeated killings since 1965 till now, and after recognising our faults we need to ask for forgiveness from each other then build a new nation".

Rwasa's FNL is the only one of four rebel movements that has refused to take part in the transitional government in Burundi.

The other three signed ceasefire agreements with the government.

The FNL-government meeting in Caux was reported to have been organised by a French NGO, Initiatives et Echanges. The talks, also attended by Burundian church representatives, are scheduled to end on Friday.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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