Burundi continues to simmer after talks with Mandela and Clinton

ARUSHA, Tanzania (Reuters) -- Burundi's warring political factions left Tanzania Tuesday after three days of marathon talks that ended with a fragile power-sharing deal aimed at ending the country's seven-year civil war.

But although two more small Tutsi parties signed Tuesday, four continue to refuse. Their refusal and deep reservations on the part of the government and several other signatories cast grave doubts on hopes of ending the conflict.

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The only thing clear after exhausted delegates finally signed the deal late Monday under intense pressure from mediator Nelson Mandela -- and a dozen heads of state including President Clinton -- was that negotiations on the central African country's future were far from over.

"I want to reassure all Burundians who are afraid this agreement constitutes the last act of negotiations," Burundi President Pierre Buyoya said in concluding remarks clearly aimed at easing fears among minority Tutsis opposed to the deal.

"Signing a peace agreement is only the first step in the quest for peace, not the last step. Negotiations will continue."

The agreement is the result of two years of negotiations that began in June 1998 to end ethnic strife in Burundi, whose 7 million inhabitants are 80 percent Hutu but where minority Tutsis dominate military, political and economic power.

Civil war between the mostly Tutsi army and Hutu rebels began in 1993 and has killed around 200,000 people, mostly civilians since then.

The agreement, if implemented, would put in place a transitional government in three to six months, create a new upper house of parliament and split the country's army equally between Hutus and Tutsis.

The transitional period would last three years, culminating in democratic elections and the creation of a new, ethnically balanced government.

AV-Intwari and the royalist PRP party signed the agreement Tuesday, bringing to 15 the total number of signatories, the independent Hirondelle news agency said.

The military government, all seven Hutu parties and the main Tutsi opposition parties have now signed the deal, but delegates said crucial issues dividing the sides remain unresolved.

Tanzanian negotiators say those issues, including picking a president for the transitional period, agreeing upon an electoral system for transitional institutions and brokering a cease-fire, will be debated over the next 30 days.

The deal's biggest failure by far is that Burundi's two main armed rebel factions were not part of it, a fact sharply criticized by the government and the hardline Tutsi parties who refused to sign.

The government wants a cease-fire before putting in place a transitional government. Rebels want the promise of a peace deal first.

Mandela has sought a compromise through assurances -- not yet given -- from rebel groups that they would agree to a cease-fire after the peace deal was reached, diplomats said.

"I want to say again, we have done it. But it is not sufficient to sign a document. What is critical is what we do thereafter," Mandela said after the talks ended.

Mandela said he would open an office in the Burundi capital Bujumbura and future negotiations would continue there.

The former South African president is lobbying for approximately 2,000 peacekeepers to be sent to Burundi to provide security for exiled Hutu leaders afraid to return home.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Clinton heads for Tanzania as negotiators seek Burundi pact
August 28, 2000

Government of the Republic of Burundi

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