AFP, Arusha, Tanzania | Tuesday
ETHNIC Hutu rebels have killed 27 military cadets and five civilians in an ambush near Bujumbura, on the eve of renewed talks aimed at finalising an accord to end seven years of civil war in Burundi.
A military source said the cadets had been returning to the capital from the southern town of Bururi, where they had played in a handball match on Sunday, when rebels opened fire on their truck. The dead civilians had been given a lift by the cadets.
The weekend violence came ahead of renewed negotiations in this northern Tanzanian town, where 19 Burundian delegations are due to spend a week trying to resolve disagreements about measures contained in a draft peace accord.
Also this week in South Africa, rebel leaders who have not taken part in the Arusha process are due to meet officials from the government and army in the presence of chief mediator Nelson Mandela, who wants the accord signed by August 28.
Chief among the issues to be discussed in Arusha are arrangements for and the timing of a ceasefire, and the leadership of a transitional regime. The talks in South Africa are expected to focus on halting the fighting in Burundi and on the reorganisation of the military.
A South African official involved in the peace process, Nicholas Haysom, said that disagreement between the rebels and Burundi President Pierre Buyoya over the timing of a ceasefire remained one of the main obstacles to a peace deal.
On Monday, Iteka, a human rights organisation in Burundi, warned that if disagreements among the delegates in Arusha persisted, there was “a serious risk of political agitation, institutional instability and a resumption of violence.”
NEWS