Regional summit on Burundian peace process held in Tanzania

The postponed regional summit on the Burundian peace process was convened here on Wednesday with the participation of Great Lakes region countries plus other related countries and international institutions.

High on the summit's agenda are further commitment to the timetable of Burundi's popular elections and its post-election power-sharing mechanism.

The summit, postponed from last week, is also expected to discuss the killings of at least 150 Banyamulenge Tutsis in Burundi on Aug. 13.

The summit is now being held behind closed doors, according to senior diplomat, Francis Mndolwa, Tanzania's ambassador to Burundi.

Burundi is emerging from its civil war fueled by rivalry between the country's majority Hutus and minority Tutsis and its transition to democratic rule is set to start on Nov. 1, 2004.

Yet the country's political groups have not yet fully agreed onthe power-sharing mechanism worked out by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

Under Zuma's plan, the first president of Burundi's post-transitional era will have to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the combined upper and lower houses of parliament. The two vice-presidents will be drawn from different tribes and political parties.

The upper house (senate) will have equal numbers of Hutus and Tutsis plus three senators from the Twa (pygmy) tribe while the lower house (national assembly) will be composed of 60 percent of Hutus and 40 percent of Tutsis.

Burundi is a tiny central African state where the Hutus make up85 percent of its population whereas the Tutsis, 14 percent.

Now the outstanding issue hindering the agreement on Zuma's plan is whether the Tutsi-dominated parties can take control of 40percent of the national assembly seats and 40 percent of the cabinet's ministerial posts and whether the vice-president has theright to veto the decisions of the president.

Another thorny issue facing the summit is whether Burundi's lone active rebel group, National Liberation Forces, will lay downarms in accordance with the agreement reached in a previous summitheld on June 5.

The rebel group was given three months to comply with the accord but was blamed for involvement in the weekend attack against Tutsi refugees in Burundi.

Source: Xinhua