18 February 2008
Bujumbura — Yesterday fighting opposing members of the national security and defence forces against a group of armed persons claimed the life of one policeman in the village of Magara on the shore of Lake Tanganyika.
A soldier of Burundi's navy was seriously wounded in the fightings. Local sources say that the attackers were FNL combatants who intended to loot the village of Magara. Inhabitants of Magara demand the facilitation team to provide food to the FNL combatants since they now plunder the communes located in the south of Bujumbura province in order to acquire their provisions.
Feeding FNL combatants was one of the points that the FNL delegation and the facilitator in Burundi's peace process, Mr. Charles Nqakula, discussed in their recent talks in Dar es Salaam. These talks aimed at resuscitating the peace process after months of wrangling and stalemate. Fighting now resumes only one week before a round of talks between PALIPEHUTU-FNL and the government of Burundi is scheduled to take place on 26 February at Dar es Salaam. The recent talks between PALIPEHUTU-FNL and the facilitator team have diffused the tension between FNL and the government of Burundi. Bubanza province is slowly returning to peace despite the robberies that armed gangs continue to carry out. The escalating trend of violence in this province ended with the deal between the facilitator and the leaders of PALIPEHUTU-FNL.
Although Burundians have held out hope that the talks between the government and PALIEPEHUTU-FNL were about to resume, both sides have not yet set up the directorate to oversee the implementation of the peace deals. This directorate must include the principal concerned parties in Burundi's peace process: the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, South Africa and Tanzania. PALIPEHUTU FNL and Charles Nqakula agreed to add the local civil society to this group in order to give Burundians a sense of ownership in the peace process.
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