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Zuma to lead high-level visit to Burundi on peace mission

Xinhua, February 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

A high-level committee of five heads of state and government will visit Burundi to assist with addressing the political situation in the country, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Monday.

The committee was appointed during the recently held African Union (AU) Summit in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Zuma said.

Zuma has been appointed as the convenor and leader of the committee. The visit to Burundi will take place on February 25-26.

Zuma was appointed for his previous role as mediator in the Burundi peace process that ended a debilitating civil war.

Violence broke out last April when Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a third time. Hundreds of people have been killed.

The AU abandoned the initial decision to send a peace keeping mission to the country but instead appointed a committee comprising five heads of state to engage the government.

Burundi's Parliament has rejected a plan of the AU to deploy peacekeepers to Burundi amid rising insecurity. Endit