Off the wire
• Collated Day 12 results of French Open  • Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo sign agreement on GPS cooperation  • Gunmen abduct 14 Eritrean asylum seekers in eastern Sudan  • Private sector urged to exert greater influence on climate action negotiations  • Political trust between Croatia, China should deepen economic cooperation: Croatian president  • Chinese Peking Opera warmly welcomed in Lithuania  • Chinese company Huawei to expand training to boost ICT capabilities for Africa  • Portuguese gov't challenges court decision to suspend TAP sale  • 1st LD: UN chief calls for calm, restraint in Burundi  • Foreign exchange rate of Euro to other currencies  
You are here: 　 Home

2nd LD Writethru: UN chief calls for calm, restraint in Burundi

Xinhua, June 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Thursday reiterated his call for calm and restraint in Burundi as he remains concerned about a possible escalation of violence in the country.

In a statement released by his spokesperson, Ban called on Burundi authorities to ensure that the security forces avoid the use of excessive force in handling demonstrations, while noting that the UN Security Council "intends to consider various tools at its disposal to safeguard peace in Burundi."

Burundi has been in turmoil since April 25 when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his decision to run for a third term in office in the coming election, which is in defiance of the constitution that limits the president to two terms in office.

Burundi's Red Cross reported Wednesday that at least 21 people were killed and more than 500 were injured since the start of protests against Nkurunziza's decision.

Ban also encouraged Burundian stakeholders to resume the consultative political dialogue facilitated by his Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Said Djinnit, adding that he hopes the parties to the dialogue will implement, without delay, the confidence-building measures already agreed.

Burundian government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba said Tuesday in a statement that a new schedule for Burundi's elections will be announced very soon. On the same day, protests resumed in Burundi's capital Bujumbura. Witnesses said the protesters were injured when policemen used live bullets to disperse them.

UN Security Council also voiced their concern about the violent acts perpetrated in Burundi after hearing a briefing from Djinnit, calling for the resumption of the political dialogue between the Burundian parties and called them to pursue it in order to create an environment conducive for peaceful, credible and inclusive elections in the country.

In a press statement issued here, the council noted the recommendations issued after the East African Community (EAC) summit, calling for the postponement of the elections for a period not less than one and a half months, and welcomed the commitment of the Burundi government to implement it.

"The members of the Security Council also welcomed the EAC Summit's call for urgent disarmament of all armed youth groups allied to political parties and creation of conducive conditions for the return of refugees to Burundi," said the statement.

Burundian Home Affairs Minister Edouard Nduwimana on Thursday announced that talks to end the country's unrest will resume next week under the auspices of the United Nations Electoral Observation Mission in Burundi.

The talks were suspended last weekend due to the EAC summit on Burundi held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on May 31. Endite