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Nelson Mandela to call for quick end to war in first visit to Burundi |
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April 29, 2000
BUJUMBURA, Burundi, APR 28 (UNB/AP) - In his first visit to Burundi, former South African President Nelson Mandela will step into his role as peace mediator and try to convince the reluctant Tutsi-led army to complete a power-sharing agreement with Hutu rebels.
The army and the rebels have been battling for seven years in a civil conflict that has left more than 200,000 people dead. Most Burundians blame it on politicians and officers who refuse to relinquish their tight grip on power. |
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Mandela's visit on Friday will include an address to the army command and parliament, but he will focus on convincing soldiers to sign on to an agreement worked out during 22 months of peace negotiations in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, officials said.
"Mandela is coming to convince those still reluctant to commit themselves to the peace accord," said Therence Nahimana, a leading Hutu parliamentarian. "There is a need to go from options to solutions. The quickest way is to convince people to sign."
Although still not finalized, the agreement centers on who will lead a transitional government; the design of an electoral system for a country with a significant Hutu majority and Tutsi minority and on the integration of Hutu rebels into the Tutsi-dominated army.
Although the peace talks have involved as many as 19 political parties and interest groups, the key players in Burundi are the army and two leading political parties - Hutu-dominated FRODEBU and Tutsi-dominated UPRONA.
The latest conflict goes back to October 1993, when Tutsi paratroopers assassinated Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu who won Burundi's first democratic elections that propelled his FRODEBU to power but also spread panic among the Tutsis who had controlled the army, economy and government since independence from Belgium in 1962.
Mandela will meet for just 10 minutes with President Pierre Buyoya, a retired Tutsi major who took power for the second time in a bloodless coup in July 1996, according to the schedule made available by the government.
At least six political parties involved in the Arusha negotiations have objected to Mandela's visit, arguing it will lend support to Buyoya and the army.
Tutsi extremists, who object to sharing power with Hutu rebels without having those suspected of mass killings prosecuted, called for a public rally on Friday to protest the negotiations.
"I hope he is coming with a good message for us. It is a very important visit, albeit short," army spokesman Col. Longin Minani said.
Minani said the country was calm after a recent spate of rebel attacks outside Bujumbura that left at least 66 people dead.
Mandela took over the Burundi negotiations last year after the October death of his predecessor, former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, who never visited Burundi and was largely branded here as biased in favor of the Hutus.
Iteka, the leading human right group that often exposes atrocities committed by both the army and the rebels, said Mandela's visit is too short to make an impact.
"Several hours of audiences with officials alone will not guarantee your success," Iteka said in a letter to Mandela, inviting him to meet with civil society members and visit a prison.
But government officials said no such visits were planned.
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