Roundup: Resumption of Burundi talks offers chance for peace

Negotiations aimed at ending the Burundi crisis resumed in Uganda on Monday with rival parities expressing commitment to the process.

Chief Mediator of the talks, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, told the rival parties that the East African region cannot allow a repeat of the 1994 Rwanda genocide anywhere in the region.

He urged the rival parties to expeditiously conclude the talks so that the suffering of the people in Burundi can end.

"I appeal to you, the two sides to sit down and have a political solution so that you save our people who are going through that suffering," Museveni said here 40 km south of the capital Kampala.

Alain Aime Nyamitwe, Burundi's foreign affairs minister, represented the government side while Delphin Ndikumana led the opposition side.

Burundi's religious leaders, civil society organizations, former Heads of State participated as well as representatives from the UN, European Union, United States and African Union in the region also attended the meeting.

Richard Sezibera, Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) told Xinhua in an interview that the resumption of the talks is a welcome signal to ending the crisis in the country where scores of people continue to die.

"This is a chance for them to sit down around the same table, and discuss the issues for them. There is a lot of hope in this dialogue, both within Burundi and the wider international community," he said.

NO CONDITIONALITIES

At the initiation of the meeting, the Burundian government set conditionalities for going into the negotiation, among which, it said, it cannot talk to criminals as it accused the opposition of carrying out criminal activities like killing innocent civilians.

The government said civilians were armed by criminal elements with the help of external forces.

Museveni, however, quickly intervened and urged the Burundi government not to set conditionalities for the interest of peace.

The mediator said the opposition, which is accused of criminal activities, must be given immunity so that the negotiations can take place to restore peace in the country.

He argued that after the restoration of peace, a truth and reconciliation committee can be established to find out who actually did what individually.

While the opposition accused the government of extrajudicial killings, it said it's committed to the negotiations, adding that there is an urgent need for the deployment of the African Union peacekeeping troops to help end the fighting.

DETERIORATING SECURITY

The Burundi crisis erupted in April this year following President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to run for a third term in office, a move seen as contrary to the country's Constitution and the Arusha Peace Accord which ended the 1993-2005 civil war.

Recent weeks have seen the security situation in Burundi deteriorating. Scores of people have been killed in brutal clashes that have also forced thousands of people to flee to neighboring countries.

Sezibera told the meeting that a new report by eminent persons in the region shows that there have been extrajudicial killings, military desertions, hate speech and a worsening refugee crisis.

He said there is an urgent need to deploy a peacekeeping mission in Burundi to end the killings.

Following the worsening humanitarian situation, the African Union Peace and Security Council proposed the deployment of 5,000 peacekeeping troops.

Burundi, however, protested the move saying it would be a violation of its sovereignty. Over the weekend, protests against the proposed deployment were held across the country. Endit