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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Thursday 26 February 2004

BURUNDI: UN mission favours takeover of AMIB

BUJUMBURA, 26 Feb 2004 (IRIN) - A UN evaluation team said on Thursday, at the end of its two-week visit to Burundi, that it favoured converting the African peacekeeping mission in Burundi (AMIB) into a UN operation.

The UN team, headed by Deputy Special Representative for the Secretary-General for the DRC Behrooz Sadry, was in Burundi to ascertain the progress made in the peace process between the transitional government and its present and former armed opponents.

Sadry said the team came at the invitation of the government and South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is the facilitator in the Burundi peace process. Sadry said they wanted to know if the UN would sustain the African mission.

"The response to this request is positive and strong," he said.

He said if the UN Security Council gave the go-ahead, there would "simply be the change of helmets" of the 2,870 AMIB troops from Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Africa.

"With the investigations we made on their efforts, means, experience and capability, the United Nations will feel happy to keep them as blue helmets," he added.

The UN team held consultations with Burundi authorities, former armed groups and other international partners who, Sadry said, also wanted the UN to take over the peacekeeping role.

Funding problems have hampered AMIB's mission. The mission was mandated to oversee the implementation of ceasefire agreements, support disarmament and demobilisation initiatives and the reintegration of combatants, ensure favourable conditions for the establishment of a UN peacekeeping mission, and contribute to political and economic stability in Burundi, according the African Union.

[ENDS]

This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004