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In March, the National Liberation Front (PALIPEHUTU-FNL,
Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu-Forces nationales de
libération), which until then had been absent during the
peace talks, said it was now willing to participate when
independent brokers were present.
In April 2003, Domiti Ndayizaye was appointed President
of the Provisional Government. He was the country's 4th hutu
president, and the deployment was a consequence of the
Arusha agreement of 2001. His 3 hutu predecessors in the
presidential post had ended their periods dramatically. 2
had been deposed by military coup, and one mysteriously died
in a plane crash with Rwanda's president in April 1994. According to
Countryaah,
a spokesman for the country's main rebel group, the FDD,
declared that the transfer of power was "irrelevant." There
is no difference between Buyoya and Domiti. They represent
the same system, the same government ». He also urged the
people not to be "distracted by the ceremony".
In July, the most serious partisan attack in 10 years
took place in Bujumbura. About 300 partisans and 15 soldiers
were killed. Acc. Ignace Ntawembarira, governor of Bujumbura
Rural - the province around the capital - had 40,000 forced
to leave their homes during a week-long clash between Hutus
and Tutsis. He further stated that most of the displaced
persons were forced to sleep under the open sky, stressing
that urgent international assistance was needed. Washington
urged partisans to hold back on the attacks and instead
begin peace talks with the government. Burundi's army that
had Bujumbura under control informed that many of the Hutu
victims were children aged 11-15. The number of people
killed during the conflict in the country has now passed
300,000.
However, on September 8, 2003, President Ndayizaye and
the FDD signed the so-called Pretoria Protocol on Politics,
Defense and Power Sharing in Burundi. Acc. the agreement,
FDD was to have 40% of the posts in the officer corps and
the general staff. At the same time, a new national police
force was to be established, with FDD holding 35% of the
seats. The FDD must have 4 ministerial posts, the vice
presidential post in the National Assembly and 15 seats in
parliament. An agreement was also reached on the
distribution of governor posts, ambassadors and a large
number of posts at the local level. As a result, FDD
immediately entered into a ceasefire. However, the second
rebel movement, the FNL continues to deny the process, and
the legitimacy of the transitional government. In December,
a donor conference was held in Pretoria to allow the African
security force to remain in Burundi for the next two years,
In November, the government gave FNL a 3-month deadline
to start peace talks. The FNL rejected the deal and the call
for negotiations, declaring that it would negotiate well
with the Tutsis, but not with a hutu like Ndayizeye. FNL
spokesman Pasteur Habimana declared: "It is the Tutsis who
are killing us", referring to the Tutsi majority in the
country's army. He continued: "That's why we should
negotiate with them." African leaders declared that the FNL
should not be left outside the peace agreement.
That same month, partisans attacked Ndayizeye's official
residence in Bujumbura. Only material damage occurred. FNL
claimed responsibility for the attack. Habimana declared
that the attack was a retaliation for the military's attack
on several partisan positions, after the FNL had refused to
participate in peace talks.
In December, the first meeting between FNL and Tutsi
officers took place in a secret place in Kenya after the FNL
refused to acknowledge Ndayizeye's legitimacy. In the same
month, Nkurunziza took over from the FDD as Minister of Good
Governance in Bujumbura.
In May 2004, Nkurunziza withdrew from the ministerial
post, however, emphasizing that this did not mean resuming
the war. The FDD accused the government of not acting in a
way that promoted a permanent peace. The party stated that
in the 6 months following the ceasefire, it had not been
involved in Ndayizeye's administration. The incorporation of
FDD's partisans into the country's army in November 2003 was
not affected by Nkurunziza's resignation.
In June, 5,000 UN peacekeepers began their activities in
Burundi in support of the peace process. About 2,700 UN
soldiers from South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia remained
in Burundi. |
