BURUNDI: VP's resignation eases political deadlock

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 01:44:04 GMT

Friday, November 09, 2007

The resignation of First Deputy President Martin Nduwimana should help break a crippling political impasse and expedite peace talks in Burundi, according to an opposition leader.

Nduwimana resigned on 7 November, saying he wanted to give the country's institutions a chance to resume work.

“I handed my resignation to the head of state who accepted it,” Nduwimana said. “I don’t want to be an obstacle to peace.”

Burundi is struggling to recover from the devastation of a civil war that broke out in 1993 and raged for 13 years, pitting rebels from the Hutu majority against a long-dominant Tutsi minority.

Most of the numerous parties to the conflict have signed up to a peace process, but one Hutu rebel group, the National Liberation Front (FNL) continues to hold out.

“I hope the government will now have enough power and capacity to speed up negotiations with the FNL, but also rein in paramilitary groups who are robbing and killing innocent civilians,” Pierre Claver Nahimana, a leading member of parliament for the opposition Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU), told IRIN in reaction to the resignation.

FRODEBU and another opposition party, the Union for National Progress, to which Nduwimana belonged until it ousted him in August, have been pushing for the replacement of the entire cabinet amid accusations of corruption and human rights abuses.

The two parties also boycotted parliament and the row has prevented any legislation being debated since August.

“The people of Burundi are distraught to see large amounts of money embezzled and the government doing nothing, while their living conditions are worsening day after day,” Nahimana said.

Nduwayo Gaspard, a political analyst and university lecturer, was less optimistic about the effects of the resignation.

“I don’t see where a deputy president could get the power and strength to give the country a new direction. The two deputy presidents have no powers and cannot impose anything, they do not even have control of the ministers,” Nduwayo said.

Source: IRIN

BURUNDI: Hundreds flee as 20 die in rebel clashes near capital

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 05:38:58 GMT

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Hundreds of families fled their homes in the northern suburbs of the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, as factions of the rebel Forces nationales de libération (FNL) clashed, leaving 20 fighters dead.

"The clashes took place at Mugaruro where one of FNL wings opposed to [Agathon] Rwasa [FNL leader] has retreated into a small forest," the administrator of Buterere commune, Moise Ndayisenga, said on 3 September.

Other witnesses heard heavy gunfire and bomb blasts near the capital, as the fighting started early in the morning. They also saw bodies in the bushes.

Ndayisenga said residents and local administrators had been urging the FNL factions to move away from the area, pending their assembly for demobilisation or integration.

"Since 18 August, we have made several appeals that we do not want any armed groups in our commune, but our call was neglected and here is the result," he said.

According to residents, the fighters often harass them. "We are often beaten and our property is taken away," one resident said. "We need forces to protect us, so that we do not get caught between two fires."

The clashes were the latest manifestation of tension within the FNL. Two years ago, a breakaway faction accused Rwasa of gross human-rights violations.

Recently, the FNL walked out of a ceasefire monitoring team set up after it signed a truce with the government in September 2006. The team was to start work in February but it has been delayed by the wrangles.

Last week, the Burundi peace mediator and South African security minister Charles Nqakula said the Joint Verification and Monitoring Mechanism would be relaunched soon so that the country's peace process could be concluded by the end of the year.

A week ago, clashes again occurred at Buterere, and the faction opposed to Rwasa criticised the FNL leader for not making any effort to help implement the ceasefire accord with the government.

Army spokesman Lt-Col Adolphe Manirakiza said government forces were keeping out of the conflict to avoid appearing to take sides, but FNL spokesman Pasteur Habimana said the government had created a faction in the FNL in order to force a return of combatants who have remained in the Democratic Republic of Congo when the movement returned to Burundi in 2003.

Source: IRIN

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BURUNDI: VP's resignation eases political deadlock

BURUNDI: Hundreds flee as 20 die in rebel clashes near capital