Off the wire
• Xinhua Insight: Pan-Beibu Gulf members clear barricades for land, waterway connectivity  • Greece completes Idomeni camp evacuation, railway line reopens after 70 days  • U.S. initial jobless claims fall to 268,000  • Famous Serbian "Walter" actor buried in Belgrade  • (Recast)More than 20 injured in Calais refugee camp brawl: report  • EIB president embarks on visit to China to enhance cooperation on climate change, AIIB ties  • British FTSE 100 rose 0.04 pct on Thursday  • China's debt level controllable, more government debt expected: MOF  • Recast: Roundup: Finnish gov't eyes closing nickel mine in Finland  • More than 20 injured in Calais refugee camp brawl: report  
You are here: 　 Home

Security returning to normalcy in Burundi capital: FM

Xinhua, May 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

Burundian External Relations and International Cooperation Minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe said on Thursday that security is returning to normalcy in the capital.

The minister met with diplomats accredited to Burundi and representatives of international organizations, reassuring them that security is progressing.

"I reassured them that security is returning to normalcy mainly in the capital Bujumbura where it had been disrupted since April last year. Bujumbura is better than before," said the minister.

"It is very evident. There is a big difference between the current security situation and the country's security situation Burundi was facing nine months ago," said Nyamitwe.

He acknowledged that some criminal acts still persist.

Nyamitwe said the meeting was aimed at discussing the east African country's political, social and security issues, adding that it has been a habit for the Burundian government to regularly hold meetings with diplomats and representatives of international organizations working in Burundi to discuss the country's current issues.

He said he briefed them about the current step of the inter-Burundian dialogue, both at the internal and the external level, as well as the new regulation that urges local and international organizations owning accounts in foreign currencies to relocate them from commercial banks to the country's central bank (BRB).

A session of consultations of four days to settle the Burundi's year-long crisis ended Tuesday in Arusha, Tanzania.

However, some opposition leaders who had been invited boycotted the session, but the facilitator in the Burundian crisis, former Tanzanian Benjamin Mkapa, pledged to meet them before the second round of talks due next month.

Burundi is facing a political turmoil that broke out since April 2015 following the announcement by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that he would be seeking a third term.

His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted into a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup on May 13, 2015.

Over 451 persons are reported to have been killed since then while some 270,000 citizens sought exile in neighboring countries. Endit