Regional heads of state will gather in Tanzania this week to discuss the latest advances in Burundi’s peace process as well as last week’s slaughter of 159 Congolese refugees in the tiny central African nation, Ugandan officials said on Monday.
”After consultation with all heads of state, it has been agreed that the summit be convened in Tanzania on Wednesday to discuss the peace process in Burundi,” said Ugandan foreign ministry official Julius Onen in Kampala.
The summit, which was earlier scheduled for August 11 and 12, takes place in the light of the killing of 159 Congolese Tutsi refugees on Friday night in the village of Gatumba, 20km from Bujumbura.
Despite claims of responsibility by the National Liberation Forces (FNL), the last active rebel group in Burundi, authorities in Bujumbura have fingered assailants from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Onen described the slaughter as ”deplorable and condemnable,” explaining that ”it’s likely to feature during the summit,” that will attract leaders from the DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, as well as Burundi.
African Union, European Union and United Nations officials are also expected to attend.
Early this month, 20 Burundian political parties signed a powersharing deal brokered by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, although 10 other Tutsi minority parties balked at the deal and the FNL is still fighting the government. – Sapa-AFP