Burundi: En bref ce 24 JUIN 2006 ...

Mbeki seals Burundi peace deal
June 24, 2006, SABC

President Thabo Mbeki has held a meeting with Piere Nkurunziza, his Burundi counterpart, in Durban today. Last week Mbeki attended the signing ceremony in Tanzania where the last rebel group in Burundi conflict agreed to start a peace process that will see Burundi seeing a last peace.

It's a week in which Africa shines through the sterling performance of Ghana's Black Stars in the World Cup and writing in his ANC online letter, the President said their performance should inspire the continent to succeed in its pursuit for peace.

Only a week ago, Burundi scored its own victory when the last remaining rebel group - the Pheliphehutu FNL - signed a peace pact with the government.

South Africa remains a key player in mediating the peace process as Burundi's step to peace has earned it the Prestigious African Peace Award 2006. President Nkurunziza will receive it on behalf of the people of Burundi. The ceremony, which takes place this evening, is being attended by Mbeki and several high powered personalities.

As Africans celebrate small but significant victories, in South Africa the Black Management Forum also had occasion to celebrate its 30th anniversary - three decades in a struggle for economic freedom.

'Burundi rebels have no choice but peace'
June 24 2006 By Joe Stolley - Sapa

Burundi's last remaining active rebel group has no alternative, but to lay down its arms and become part of the peace process, the country's President Pierre Nkurunziza said on Saturday.

The Front National pour la Liberation-Palipehutu (FNL), which signed a tentative deal on June 18 to end hostilities, did not have the popular political support to continue with its armed conflict and was divided, he said in Durban.

That the FNL had not yet agreed to lay down its arms was not an obstacle to peace in one of Africa's most densely populated and smallest countries.

"For three reasons they cannot continue. They don't have enough means to continue. They don't have the diplomatic support and they don't have the popular support."

He said that even in areas where the FNL's support base had been strong, "even the population that has been working with them does not do so anymore and there are a number of them coming back to us."

"The FNL is divided in two groups - one group that wants to integrate and another that does not want to. The FNL is very weak now. It's up to the government to see how they can be integrated."

The agreement signed last week in Tanzania came after three weeks of talks mediated by South Africa.

The two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in May last year, but after a week fighting resumed.

Nkurunziza was reportedly unhappy at not being able to sign a permanent ceasefire.

He said the FNL, led by Agathon Rwasa would not automatically get seats in the 100-seat National Assembly.

He pointed out that there were parties that should not have been represented in the government due to their poor showing in the August 2005 election which brought the ruling Forces for Defence of Democracy (FDD) to power.

The FNL's role in the Burundi government would be determined by the country's power-sharing constitution, which was accepted in referendum held in March 2005.

"The FNL know that. We have to respect the constitution. That's the recommendations of even the regional initiative for peace. We can't violate the constitution. A referendum would be needed for any changes."

He denied FNL allegations that he did not want to reform the army because he was fearful of a coup. The FNL, which is believed to have about 1 500 fighters, has previously called for the disbanding of the army and creating a totally new force.

"We are not afraid. Everything is based on the constitution."

The former physical education university lecturer said a major stumbling block to achieving a deal with the FNL had been its ever-changing stance favouring Hutus over Tutsis.

Burundi's two main ethnic groups are the minority Hutus and the majority Tutsis.

Until 1993 there had never been a Hutu president and in the 44 years since independence from colonial masters Belgium, the nation has suffered from numerous clashes between the two ethnic groups.

In 1993 the killing of the first elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, by Tutsi soldiers in the army sparked a 13-year civil war that saw millions displaced and at least 300 000 killed.

A born-again Christian, Nkurunziza himself lost members of his family in the ethnic clashes. His father, a former governor, was killed in 1975.

He had a sister and six brothers, of whom two were killed following the assassination of Ndadaye. Another three siblings died in the bush.

Prior to the 1993 assassination, Nkurunziza had not been politically active and he was still working as a lecturer in 1995.

He relinquished the top post within the FDD after being nominated as a presidential candidate.

His rule has not been without criticism.

Among others, he has been accused of intolerance of journalists who criticised his leadership following the arrest of Aloys Kabura, a journalist with the state news agency Agence Burundaise de Presse.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) executive director issued a statement earlier this month, saying:

""It is alarming to see Burundi's government slipping into the autocratic and abusive habits that marked the days before its election."

Nkurunziza has denied the accusations and said: "It's not true. There was behaviour that we accepted during the transitional period. There are many mistakes that have been made by all. That is one journalist, but there are many journalists in Burundi. The transition is finished. We must bring order."

He said journalists were not above the law.

Kabura was apparently arrested after criticising police for beating journalists who refused to hand over tapes of a press conference held on April 17 by a politician expelled from the ruling party.

Asked whether he worked better with former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma or Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, he smiled and said: "It's not dependent on the facilitator. What is important are those parties that are involved are determined."

Nkurunziza was in Durban to receive the biennial Africa Peace Award, established by the African Centre for the Corrective Resolution of Disputes (Accord), to honour peacemakers.

Previous winners include the community of Mpumalanga (Hammarsdale in KwaZulu-Natal) and former president Nelson Mandela.

U.S. Allows Embassy Families To Return To Burundi
June 23, 2006 http://www.allheadlinenews.com

Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. Department of State is relaxing some of the travel restrictions for Americans in Burundi.

According to its latest warning, the Department has "lifted the ordered departure status for adult family members at the U.S. Embassy in Bujumbura, Burundi. However, there is still a prohibition on the travel to Bujumbura of minor family members and the Department continues to alert U.S. citizens to ongoing safety and security concerns in Burundi. This supersedes the Travel Warning of October 19, 2005."

"Although adult family members are now permitted to return, the Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens against travel to Burundi. The security situation has stabilized in much of the country, but the risk of sudden outbreaks of armed violence, acts of banditry, and cross-border incursion by rebel groups remains. Private Americans should exercise caution and maintain security awareness at all times."

According to the Department, "Burundi has been plagued by civil war since 1993. Six rebel groups have signed cease-fire agreements with the government, but one rebel faction continues combat operations, particularly in the province surrounding the capital, Bujumbura Rural. Fighting between rebel forces and government troops can be intense, and often involves non-government, non-combatant targets. "

"The U.S. Embassy in Burundi operates with a limited staff and restricts the movement of U.S. Government personnel within the capital. All travel outside the capital by U.S. Embassy personnel must be pre-approved by the Embassy's regional security officer."

Burundi, Sierra Leone to get special U.N. focus
23 Jun 2006 Source: Reuters
More UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (Reuters) - A new U.N. body set up to help states emerge from the ruin of war is choosing Burundi and Sierra Leone as the first to benefit from a concerted redevelopment program, the body's chairman said on Friday.

He spoke as the peacebuilding commission, approved in December, held its first meeting to great fanfare as part of a U.N. reform process called for by world leaders at a U.N. summit last September.

The 31-nation commission aims to stop war restarting by helping countries build institutions once fighting ends. It includes the International Money Fund and World Bank as observers.

Commission chairman Gaspar Martins, Angola's U.N. ambassador, told reporters the first candidates, to be formally approved later, would be Burundi, in central Africa, and Sierra Leone in West Africa. Both have emerged from civil wars.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a speech to the committee weaknesses in international responses had included shortage of funds, lack of international coordination and a "tendency for international actors to leave too hurriedly."

"The commission represents a symbol of both hope and perseverance: hope for the many millions of people throughout the world who are striving to keep their societies on the fragile road to peace; and perseverance, because you have overcome considerable difficulties to get this new and vital endeavor up and running," Annan said.

UN defends Rwanda tribunal
By Mike Pflanz in Arusha 24/06/2006

The United Nations court prosecuting the ringleaders of Rwanda's genocide has had to defend itself after taking 12 years and spending almost £550 million to convict only 25 people.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) promised at its inception in 1994 to indict some 700 senior politicians, government officials, clergymen and journalists accused of orchestrating the genocide. As the full scale of the task became obvious, and amid repeated claims of inefficiency, that figure was reduced to 300.

Only 72 people have been arrested and 25 convicted. A further 27 "genocidaires", among them former military chiefs and government ministers, are on trial. Fourteen more are waiting for their hearings to start.

By the end of 2007 it will have cost UN member states, including Britain, roughly £20 million per prosecution if the remaining cases lead to convictions.

"What happened in Rwanda was an affront to the whole world and as such the international community had a responsibility to make sure that justice was done fairly," said Hassan Bubacar Jallow, the ICTR's chief prosecutor.

By its nature, the process of the prosecutions is slow. Each question, objection, statement and cross-examination must be translated between French, English and the Rwandan language Kinyarwandan.

Success now brewing for Rwanda's coffee
Laurie Goering Chicago Tribune Jun. 24, 2006

MUSASA, Rwanda - In the aftermath of Rwanda's 1994 genocide, this tiny hill nation's coffee industry also lingered near death.

World prices for the country's unremarkable beans had bottomed out. Thousands of coffee farmers were dead. Century-old coffee plantations sat abandoned or were leveled to replant bananas.

"When we got here, the price was so bad people were pulling coffee out of their fields," recalled Tim Schilling, a Texas A&M University agronomist. advertisement

Today, Rwanda's coffee industry has reversed its tailspin so convincingly that its once-pedestrian beans are now considered some of the tastiest in the world.

"Medium strong with citrus high notes over deep chocolate undertones," raves Thanksgiving Coffee Co., a California-based specialty coffee roaster.

For most of its century of coffee producing, Rwanda hasn't made much of its advantages. Small-scale coffee producers have long chucked underripe and overripe beans into sacks along with the best ones, then let the mix ferment in the sun for hours before cranking it through a home washing machine. The result was bitter and poor selling.

That began to change in 2001 when Dan Clay, an international agriculture specialist at Michigan State University, set out to try to resurrect Rwanda's coffee industry.

With Schilling, an African agronomy specialist, experts at the National University of Rwanda and funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, he persuaded farmers to try producing top-quality coffee for the international specialty coffee market.

Today, the initiative, the Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages, has built more than a dozen washing and sorting stations and helped set up cooperatives around the country. Farmers have been trained to sort their fresh-picked coffee. The beans are washed and sorted again. The coffee is later tasted to ensure quality.

UGANDA

COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY GENERAL TO VISIT UGANDA
Saturday, June 24th, 2006 By Kisibo Jackie http://www.aboutuganda.com
Don McKinnon the commonwealth secretary general, will soon visit Uganda.
McKinnon would hold talks with President Yoweri Museveni and also with Prof. Morris Ogenga Latigo the leader of the opposition in parliament.
Speaking on the eve of his departure, McKinnon said, ” I will be holding talks with President Museveni on a wide range of issues, including preparations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala next year.

Sudan wants Tanzania’s role in peace process
2006-06-24 By Patrick Kisembo SOURCE: Guardian

The government of Sudan has asked Tanzania to play a role in facilitating implementation of the peace agreement in the Darfur Region.

In his message to President Jakaya Kikwete which was delivered by Minister for International Co-operation, Dr Tijan Salehel Fidel, Sudanese President, Omar Al Bashir implored Tanzania to participate in the efforts to bring peace in his country.

’’The government of Sudan is asking Tanzania as a member of the United Nations Security Council, to convince groups which have not signed the peace agreement to do so, in order to expedite the implementation of the peace process,’’ Fidel told President Kikwete.

He also asked President Kikwete to help persuade warring groups to respect the Abuja Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) that was signed last month, and lay down their arms.

The Sudanese minister told President Kikwete the conflicts in his country are politically and economically motivated, saying the people need to know that peace does not come through a barrel of the gun.

He further asked the President to reopen Tanzania’s High Commission in Sudan which was closed in March 1986, due to economic hardships. Since then, the mission’s premises have been rented by Uganda.

The Sudanese High Commissioner to Tanzania E-Mughira Ali Omar accompanied the minister.

The Darfur conflict pitting the government against the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM), the largest rebel group, started three years ago.

Available data show that the conflict has triggered a huge humanitarian crisis, with thousands of people being killed and women and children raped.

Survivors are living as refugees with little or no help from the international community.

Another rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army has split into two groups, one led by Minni Minnawi and another by Abdul Walid Mohammed Al-Nur, who is believed to be a supporter of the Sudanese government.

Tanzania plans to establish fuel strategic reserve
June 24, 2006, Source: IPP Media By ANDnetwork .com

The government of Tanzania will establish a national fuel strategic reserve to ward off any future fuel crisis in the country.

The minister of planning, economy and empowerment Dr Juma Ngasongwa, revealed this when winding up the debate on the state of the economy which he presented in the House on Thursday last week.

"Establishment of a national strategic fuel reserve is a good idea and the government will work on it," said Dr Ngasongwa, in response to the comments from MPs who called for establishment of the reserve.

Generally, he said, contributions from legislators over the last five days on the state of the economy presentation had been helpful and had revealed MPs commitment on government plans and programmes.

A total of 95 legislators contributed to Dr Ngasongwa’s motion.
Regarding privatisation of public institutions and parastatal organizations, he said the government’s intention is in leasing major public utilities including railways and Tanesco, not privatising them.

He assured the House that the government would be very keen when leasing the public utilities to protect peoples' interests.

On calls to rejoin the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa), he reasoned that the reasons that made the country pull out from the regional group are still intact.

"Tanzania incurs no cost by staying outside Comesa. We are still working on the idea, when the right time to rejoin the regional grouping arrives, we shall do so,’’ said Dr Ngasongwa.

He said the government would continue to advertise the country through branding the Tanzanian name, through international roundtables, Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) as well as targeting specific investors.

Dr Ngasongwa also assured people using the central railway line that the government was facilitating a special programme for rehabilitating the line.

Britain Offers $9 Million To Prop Up Democratic Republic of the Congo Military
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo
http://www.defensenews.com 06/23/06
Britain agreed Friday to provide $9 million in aid to “improve the living conditions” of three brigades in the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said.
British Ambassador Andy Sparkes said the money would meet basic needs such as shelter and drinking water for the troops and their families, or some 40,000 people.
The troops are among 12 brigades recently integrated into the national army from various rival forces which opposed each other during the country’s 1998-2003 civil war.
”The international community remains preoccupied by the weak level of logistical support to the integrated brigades,” Sparkes told reporters after signing the agreement with DRC Defense Minister Adolphe Onusumba.
He said this had contributed not only to deteriorating living conditions for the soldiers but also rising crime rates and “endemic corruption” across the DRC.
Onusumba said the country had slashed its troop numbers by more than half to 233,000 since the end of the war, but noted that much work remained to be done to reorganize the armed forces.
”This army has not had a functional administration for more than 15 years,” he said.

Kenya president criticises oil firms over price rises
June 24, 2006, Source: Nation Media By ANDnetwork .com

President Kibaki has accused petroleum companies of taking advantage of changes in international oil prices to disproportionately increase pump prices.

The oil companies were swift to hike pump prices immediately the international prices rose, but were slow to reduce them when crude oil prices went down, said the President.

Speaking when he launched the Kenol/Kobil Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) storage and filling plant in Nairobi, President Kibaki appealed to oil dealers to ensure consumers enjoyed the benefits of reduced international oil prices.

He said the Government would continue implementing policies to shield Kenyans from high international crude oil prices, adding that such measures would include maintaining a stable shilling exchange rate.

Stretched capacity

The President said the capacity of the Kenya Pipeline Company to meet local and regional petroleum needs was stretched.

"The strong economic recovery in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi has overstretched the capacity of KPC to transport diesel, kerosene and petrol."

The high operating level of the pipeline at 3.5 billion litres annually could not be sustained since it provided no room for maintenance, he added.

To ease pressure on the pipeline, said the President, the Government was fast-tracking the installation of four booster pump stations between Mombasa and Nairobi.

The move would double the flow from 440 000 litres an hour to 880 000 an hour by May 2007.

He said Kenya was negotiating with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo to determine the desirable capacity for the next 20 years.

He noted that the current eight-inch pipeline from Nairobi to Burnt Forest could not meet demand.

President Kibaki said inadequate storage for cooking gas in Kenya kept more people from using it.

And the high cost of cooking gas led to continued over-reliance on firewood and charcoal for fuel, endangering forests, he said.

The President announced that the Government was seeking a private investor to help develop a 6 000 tonne LPG import handling and storage base in Mombasa.

The Head of State also announced that from October this year, all new gas cylinders would have a common valve and regulator so that consumers could refill at the nearest dealers.

Angolan elected chair of Peacebuilding Commission
June 24, 2006, Source: Angola Press By ANDnetwork .com

Angolan ambassador to UN, Ismael Gaspar Martins, was elected by acclamation for a one-year term as chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission, a UN newly created organ tasked with ensuring post-conflict peace.

The election of the Angolan diplomat took place Friday in New York, during the first session of the commission, attended by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, and the presidents of the General Assembly of the Security, the Economic and Social Councils, Jan Eliasson, Per Stig Moller and Ali Hachani, respectively.

Addressing the session, the commission’s newly elected chairman said the fact "represents the recognition that the countries that have concrete post-conflict problems must be directly associated with the search for solutions and the ways to lead United Nations actions toward solutions to the problems.

"We have just been given a unique opportunity to respond to the expectations of millions of people affected by conflicts," Ismael Martins stressed. According to him, financial support is crucial for the commission to be effective, and appealed to international and regional financial institutions, funds and programmes, civil societies and the private sector to come in support for the newly created organ.

To the diplomat, members should not be judged by the eloquence of their speeches, but by concrete actions helping the good functioning of the institution. "There must be a sense of urgency that enables concrete responses of aid to countries emerging from conflicts," he stressed. He also argued that peace building has to do with freeing people from conflicts and creating basis for peace and sustainable development.

To this end, he added, "there should be flexibility and transparency in our deliberations in order for our consensual recommendations to be actually implementable."

"Being a representative of a country that is in the process of overcoming the negative effects of many years of war, and of the continent with the highest number of conflicts, the creation of this organ is the symbolic recognition of the purposes that led our leaders into deciding the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission," the Angolan diplomat stated.

The commission is an organ whose establishment was decided by the Heads of State and Government, during the UN Summit of September 2005 and under the A/RES/60/180 and 1645 (2005) Resolutions, of the General Assembly and of the UN Security Council, concerning the need for the creation of such first inter-governmental consultative organ that will be mainly tasked with marshalling financial resources from the International Community.

The purpose of the financial resources is to outline integrated strategy of economic recovery in the post-conflict period, national reconstruction and sustainable development in countries emerging from conflicts. The commission is coordinated by a committee comprising 31 members, elected as follows: Angola, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Poland, Brazil and Belgium, for Economic, Social Council. China, Dinmark, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Tanzania and US, for Security Council. Germany, Italy, Japan, Holland, and Norway as UN main contributors.

Other members of the commission are Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Pakistan, Burundi, Chile, Croatia, Egypt, El Salvador, Fidji and Jamaica. All UN Security Council Permanent members are part of the Peacebuiding Commission. The creation of the commission is part of the UN reforms proposed by the secretary general, Kofi Annan, in face of the need to make the organisation of more effective concerning nowadays threats and challenges.

Angola currently holds one of the vice presidencies of the General Assembly and is fulfilling its term as Economic and Social Council member.

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