/ 14 August 2000

BURUNDI LEADER IN SA FOR TALKS

PRESIDENT Pierre Buyoya of Burundi arrived in South Africa on Monday night to discuss attempts to end seven years of civil war in Burundi. Buyoya is likely to meet former South African president Nelson Mandela, now the chief mediator of Burundi’s peace process. He is expected to be in South Africa for four days. Mandela has repeatedly said a draft peace accord ending Burundi’s war can be signed on August 28, even though delegates at the talks still disagree over several key aspects of a draft text. More than 200000 people in Burundi have died since 1993 when Hutu rebels took up arms against a government and army dominated by the Tutsi minority.