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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 21 August 2006

BURUNDI: Officers in demobilisation for the first time, official says

BUJUMBURA, 21 Aug 2006 (IRIN) - Officers have been included for the first time in Burundi’s demobilisation process that started in 2004, said an official on Monday.

Ninety-seven officers were demobilised on Monday in the central province of Gitega, 58 from the government’s Forces de Défense Nationales, and 39 from the former rebels, the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces Nationales pour la defence de la démocratie.

Apart from former rebel leaders, previous demobilisations had involved only non-commissioned officers and rank and file troops. The spokesman for the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration team, Col Augustin Nzabampema, said the demobilisation of officers was "a normal and second step" of the demobilisation process.

The process is continuing even though one rebel movement is still fighting in Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza provinces. Negotiations between this movement, the Front National de Liberation led by Agathon Rwasa, and the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza still have to reach a ceasefire agreement. The FNL was not a signatory to the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi of 28 August 2000 - signed by several political and paramilitary bodies - aimed at ending years of civil war.

Nzabampema said on Monday the demobilisation process was being carried out "in a positive way". This was because so far, he said, 20,298 former combatants and government soldiers had been demobilised, apart from those on Monday. He said some of the demobilised were the sick and disabled who had not, till now, been able to reach demobilisation centres.

They were on their way to the demobilisation centre of Gitega, escorted by the National Defence Forces and not foreign troops, unlike previous occasions. The demobilised officers will receive money for 18 months. They are expected to collect an equivalent of nine months’ salary on Thursday and the remainder in three installments. They will also get 600,000 Burundi francs (US $600) to support their social and economic reintegration. A military source, who did not wish to be named, said a colonel would get the equivalent of $1,500 for the first nine months.

Nzabampema said by end-September, 1,907 more government and rebel troops will have been demobilised. "The figure might be higher when the Front National de Liberation [fighters] is integrated into government institutions," Nzabampema said.

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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 2006