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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

BURUNDI: Pre-summit talks enter second day

DAR ES SALAAM, 15 September 2003 (IRIN) - Talks between Burundian government and rebel delegations entered the second day early Monday, ahead of a regional summit aimed at resolving the country's civil war and implementing its flagging ceasefire.

The technical talks between the belligerents and the negotiators began on Sunday. Once an agreement is reached, the summit, to be attended by the presidents of Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, will be convened.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who is also chairman of the Regional Initiative on Burundi, has scheduled the Monday summit to finalise the implementation of a 2 December 2002 ceasefire signed by the main Hutu rebel group, the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Force pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) and the transitional government led by Domitien Ndayizeye.

"We have to finish this process because we, and the people in Burundi, are tired of it all," Ambriose Nyonsaba, the government's chief negotiator, said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, CNDD-FDD spokesman Salvator Ntacobamaza told IRIN on Monday that initial contacts were "promising" and that he was confident that a compromise could be reached.

"But if no settlement has been made, the region has made it clear that a solution will be imposed," he said.

On Sunday, Museveni met the head of the government delegation and held talks with Jacob Zuma, the South African Deputy President and Head of the Facilitation, but it was too early to tell if progress had been made, diplomats said on Monday.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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