Burundi's President Accepts UN Peace Mediation Talks

United Nations — The United Nations may finally have an opening to increase its presence in Burundi, after Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza recently engaged in dialogue with the UN.

United States Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of December, Tuesday said at a press conference here that the dialogue came after a long period of the Burundian government reducing the UN presence in the country."At just the time you would wish to see more eyes and ears on the ground, more monitoring, the UN presence was getting drawn down because of the government of Burundi's desire to see it drawn down," said Power. "So we think it is very important that (UN Special Adviser Jamal) Benomar has been able to establish a dialogue now with President Nkurunziza that there is a willingness to see the UN increase its presence."

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