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Burundi president makes key concessions in civil war |
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June 8, 2000
JOHANNESBURG, JUNE 7 (AP) - Burundi President Pierre Buyoya on Wednesday agreed to close down so-called regroupment camps and integrate the Tutsi-led army - key concessions in negotiations to end Burundi's seven-year civil war.
In discussions with former South African President Nelson Mandela, who is mediating peace talks between the Tutsi government and the Hutu rebels, Buyoya agreed to integrate the army and close down the camps where those displaced by the fighting have been herded.
"We have made very solid progress in our discussions here, which demonstrates quite clearly that both President Buyoya and his ministers here are in favor of peace," Mandela said.
At least 200,000 people - both Hutus and Tutsis - have been killed since October 1993 when paratroopers from the minority Tutsi community assassinated the county's first democratically elected president, a Hutu.
As part of the peace process, Burundi must set up a body comprising the country's key ethnic groups to supervise national integration and bring Hutus into the country's Tutsi-dominated institutions, Mandela said.
Hutus and Tutsis also should be equally represented in the army, a concession to which Buyoya agreed, Mandela said. The rebels had demanded their forces make up 70 percent of the military, a demand Mandela said was impractical.
Buyoya also agreed to shut down the country's regroupment camps by July 31. The camps, which have been attacked several times, have garnered international condemnation. Mandela has called them concentration camps.
"We agreed that we are going to do our duty as far as the regroupment camps are concerned," Buyoya said. However, he asked for assurances that the rebels not attack civilians returning from the camps to their home villages.
Mandela said he was confident the rebels would agree. "There is no doubt that Pierre Buyoya wants peace, and for him to take a decision on these two issues ... has shown a great deal of courage," Mandela said.
Mandela and Buyoya failed to reach agreement on the release of political prisoners, some of whom have been jailed without trial for as long as seven years. Mandela also said the rebels would not declare a cease-fire until the peace process appeared irreversible.
Mandela is scheduled to visit Burundi on June 12-14 to meet political dissidents and visit the regroupment camps. The next round of peace talks, which are supposed to see endorsement of a power-sharing agreement, are scheduled for July.
Government officials and the rebels are scheduled to meet in July to discuss a draft peace accord.
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