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BURUNDI: Security Council welcomes signing of accord
The UN Security Council on Thursday welcomed the limited signing of the Burundi peace accord, calling it "an important first step towards national reconciliation". Council members also endorsed the signatories' urgent appeal for armed groups to suspend further hostilities, join in negotiations, and sign the accord. The call came in a statement released by Council President Ambassador Agam Hasmy of Malaysia after a closed-door briefing on the situation in Burundi by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast.
Congratulating talks' mediator, Nelson Mandela, the facilitation team, and the Burundian parties for their efforts, Council members encouraged the negotiators to step up their attempts to reach a "compromise on outstanding issues and on a timetable for implementing the accord". They noted that this would facilitate the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes "in safety and dignity". Noting that a donor conference would be held in Brussels on 15 September, the council members also called on the international community to assist the Burundi government in its reconstruction efforts.
Meanwhile, Belgium - the former colonial power in Burundi - labelled the peace deal "the first achievement in two years of tough negotiations aimed at bringing the Burundi crisis to an end." Local news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Louis Michel as saying it was imperative that all Burundians reject violence. "Although peace had not been achieved, the pace towards it has been accelerated and the parties should further pursue dialogue and compromise," he said.
BURUNDI: Armed Hutu groups to attend talks in Kenya
The mediator in the Burundi conflict, former South African President Nelson Mandela, on Thursday told a news conference that a meeting between Burundian President Pierre Buyoya and armed Hutu rebel groups would take place in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 22 September. The two rebel groups are the Forces pour la liberation national (FLN), led by Cossan Kabura, and the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), led by Jean-Bosco Ndayikegurikiye. The peace agreement signed last week in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha did not provide for a ceasefire. Mandela said President Paul Kagame had also agreed to attend the Nairobi talks.
Mandela also announced that the four Tutsi parties which refused to sign the agreement had been called to South Africa for talks. The parties which refused to sign are Ralliement pour la democratie et le developpement economique (RADDES), the Alliance Nationale pour le Droit et le developpement economique (ANADDE), the Parti social democrate (PSD) and Parti independent des travailleurs (PIT).
BURUNDI: Government hopes pact will bring renewed aid
Despite the limited endorsement of the peace pact, the government of Burundi hopes the international community will fully resume cooperation with the country, diplomatic sources told IRIN. "Politically, there are no more problems in lending support to the government and working with the President Buyoya, but it depends on the execution of what has been signed," Georg Lennkh, the Austrian head of the Arusha commission on reconstruction and development, told IRIN.
"Negotiations are not over yet, Mandela remains in charge, and we have to clarify the confusion created by the reservations in the agreement," he added. Meanwhile, in an 29 August statement from Brussels, Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission, said that "structural aid should resume gradually once the following conditions are met: active engagement of all parties in the peace negotiations and improvements in human rights and in the security situation".
He added that the Commission was already preparing the resumption of cooperation at the technical level and that future European Union support would look for a new model of development, based on the equitable sharing of the benefits of progress amongst all Burundians. Currently, Burundi only benefits from "enhanced humanitarian aid" from the international community. Prodi said EU "enhanced humanitarian aid" to Burundi represents 55 million Euros (about US $60 million).
A technical meeting of international donors will take place on 15 September in Brussels in order to discuss on the latest developments, coordinate strategies and prepare a Round Table
DRC: CPJ calls for release of jailed journalists
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the release of two Kinshasa journalists held and charged with high treason against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In letter to President Laurent-Desire Kabila, dated 30 August, the CPJ raised concerns for the welfare of newspaper editors Emile-Aime Kakekese Vinalu of 'Le Carrousel' and Jean-Pierre Ekanga Mukana of 'La Tribune'.
Prosecution arose from two articles that Vinalu published in the 20 June edition of the 'Le Carrousel'. In one article, Vinalu denounced the lack of cooperation among various DRC opposition movements, charging that free speech was impossible in the DRC because "to dare speak one's mind is a sure guarantee that one will be accused of endangering state security." The second piece "speculated" on possible reasons for a recent public confrontation between the president and former Minister of Mineral Resources Victor M'Poyo who was subsequently removed from the post. Vinalu was arrested on 24 June.
Ekanga Mukana was arrested on 23 July after he allegedly refused to tell police where Vinalu lived. He was released on 10 July, but later rearrested on 17 August after he appeared in court to testify on Vinalu's behalf. According to the CPJ, both journalists have been charged with high treason and face the death penalty if convicted.
In the letter, the CPJ accused Kabila's government of having "the worst press freedom of any country in Africa." It went on to say that "more than 130 journalists and media workers have been harassed, beaten, arbitrarily imprisoned, or forced into exile" since Kabila assumed power in 1997.
RWANDA: Kenya to train Rwandan military
Kenya and Rwanda have signed a military training pact, according to senior Rwandan government sources. "Our minister of defence was here this week to sign the military training agreement. Kenya has already sent an advance party of three military officers to our country and they should be back this week, " Rwandan Ambassador to Kenya Joy Mukanyage told IRIN. According to the Rwandan Ambassador the agreement stipulates that Kenya sends instructors to Rwanda to train troops. "Kenya has the capacity and infrastructure to train our people, and this will benefit both countries," she added. Diplomatic sources told IRIN that the agreement followed the meeting in Kenya in June this year between President Arap Moi of Kenya and Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
Nairobi, 1 September 2000 14:00 gmt
[ENDS]
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