South African President Thabo Mbeki has hailed a Burundi peace deal sealed in Pretoria in the early hours of Wednesday, saying the agreement was crucial in solving the “jigsaw puzzle in the heart of Africa”.
“This is not just paper. It ensures that not another African dies unnecessarily,” said Mbeki, who presided over three days of round-the-clock negotiations mediated by South Africa.
“I hope we can replicate it in other parts of the continent where Africans are killing Africans,” Mbeki said.
The president of Burundi’s transitional government, Domitien Ndayizeye, and the leader of the main Hutu rebel group, Pierre Nkurunziza, of the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), signed an agreement Wednesday to put into practice a ceasefire deal hammered out late last year.
The deal included a compromise on political and military issues with both leaders declaring an immediate cessation of hostilities in the tiny central African country, at war since 1993.
Ndayizeye came to power in May this year, in terms of a power-sharing agreement brokered by former South African president Nelson Mandela and signed in Arusha, Tanzania in 2000.
Further ceasefire agreements were then sealed in December 2002 and January 2003, but had never been implemented, with both the Burundi government and rebels accusing each other of breaching the pact.
Civil war broke out in 1993 between rebels from the Hutu majority and the Tutsi-dominated army, killing some 300 000 people, mainly civilians.
The latest round of talks in Pretoria, mediated by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma from Sunday, was aimed at the implementation of the ceasefire agreements.
Ndayizeye and Nkurunziza signed a deal mapping out military and political details for a peaceful transition to democratic elections.
The two leaders agreed that the FDD would get four ministerial positions, and 15 seats within the National Assembly, including the vice-presidency and deputy secretary general.
In the army the FDD will now make up 40% of staff with the allocation of command posts on the basis of ethnic balance. A new representative police force will also be set up.
Burundi’s militia will be disbanded and the gendarmerie (paramilitary police force) will be treated as part of the Burundi Armed Forces (FAB).
Nkurunziza said after the signing: “I am formally ordering our combatants that the FDD will no longer fight against the people of Burundi. I would like the same order to be issued by the transitional government.”
To which Ndayizeye replied: “With all my heart I issue an order for the immediate cessation of hostilities. I order the defence minister, who is here, to convey this order to the army.”
Mbeki said the agreement was crucial in the volatile central African region.
“This is an important development for Burundi and it is also an important part of the jigsaw puzzle solving the problems in the very heart of Africa,” he told reporters after the signing.
On a lighter note, Mbeki reminded Ndayizeye of a promise he made to South Africa for brokering the implementation deal.
“We have only one rain queen,” said Mbeki, referring to the severe drought South Africa is experiencing. “But Burundi has several. President Ndayizeye has promised to send us some and that is what we call overseas development assistance.” – AFP