South Africa will host a new round of talks on Burundi to finalise a agreement on power-sharing and on holding elections, South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
The two days of talks beginning on Wednesday will be attended by all the parties in Burundi except for the CNDD-FDD (Forces for the Defence of Democracy) group, which is holding a conference.
”We will meet on Wednesday and Thursday and agree on a document which we will take to the region,” Zuma told reporters.
”This matter has to come to an end because the Arusha process runs out at the end of October. Unless there is agreement, there will be a vacuum on November 1,” he said.
South Africa has been struggling to broker an agreement in Burundi that would pave the way for elections as provided under the 2000 Arusha accord, which launched the peace process in the Central African country.
More than 300 000 people have died in Burundi when rebels from Burundi’s Hutu majority took up arms in 1993 against the Tutsi-led government and army.
Zuma has mediated talks in Pretoria and in Bujumbura over the past two months that have failed to produce an agreement on power-sharing and representation in Parliament between Burundi’s Tutsis and Hutus.
Last week, five parties representing Tutsis walked out of talks with Zuma in Bujumbura accusing him of not listening to their demands for representation in the new government.
The Tutsi parties, however, agreed to continue the dialogue and they are set to take part in the talks in Pretoria this week. — Sapa-AFP