EAST and Central African leaders have suspended economic sanctions imposed on Burundi almost three years ago, official sources said at the end of a summit of heads of states of the region held in Arusha, northern Tanzania. The decision was taken on Saturday, based on a report submitted by former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, who is mediating in the inter-Burundian negotiations. East and Central African countries imposed economic embargo on Burundi following a coup d’etat which brought President Pierre Buyoya to power on July 25 1996. He ousted an elected government.