South Africa’s Deputy President Jacob Zuma urged the African Union’s (AU) conflict resolution body on Tuesday to deploy the so-called African Mission to Burundi as soon as possible to enforce the cease-fire in the region.
According to a statement issued by his office from the AU’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Zuma said troops from South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia had all been earmarked to take part in the mission.
The establishment of the mission was provided for in the Burundi cease-fire agreements signed in South Africa last year.
Zuma, a key mediator in the peace process, addressed the central organ of the AU’s Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution in Addis Ababa on Tuesday.
The organ is the core decision making body in the AU’s conflict resolution mechanism. Its power is such that the African Union Commission needs its authorisation to establish the mission.
Zuma, who also met with the interim chairperson of the African Union Commission, Amara Essy, strongly recommended that the organ give Essy’s commission immediate authorisation to establish the mission.
The organ should also take advantage of the expressed readiness of the United Nations Security Council to backstop the African Mission and the cease-fire implementation process, Zuma said.
The Security Council recently expressed its support for the immediate and full implementation of the cease-fire agreements in Burundi. It also mandated the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to ”respond positively” to requests for assistance with regards setting up the African Mission.
Zuma, who also urged AU member states to fund the mission, on Tuesday welcomed the security council pledge that would consider steps against states that continued to support armed attacks by rebel groups.
Zuma said the security council’s support was especially encouraging because the conditions in Burundi were so far not conducive to the UN’s full involvement.
The United Nations currently has no plans to deploy a peacekeeping force in the country. This is partly because there is no all-inclusive cease-fire agreement — Forces for National Liberation (FNL) rebel group are still outside the peace process — and partly because of the provision that another rebel groups not be disarmed.
This was the Forces for Defence of Democracy (FDD) whose leader, Pierre Nkurunziza, had since December 2 cease-fire agreements which he signed, consistently cancelled talks, Zuma said.
He pointed out that Nkurunziza had, however, following consultations with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, agreed to attend a meeting in Pretoria on January 16.
Zuma said he hoped the FNL would sign the accords at the South African meeting that Museveni would chair. He urged the AU to pressure the FNL to do so.
Zuma is expected to travel to Burundi on Wednesday for discussion with key role players in the peace process, including President Pierre Buyoya and the 19 political parties that signed the Arusha peace accords in 2000. – Sapa