[allAfrica.com]  [allAfrica.com_Top_Headlines]


Analysts Hail Burundi Rebel Purging

BuaNews (Pretoria)
NEWS
August 19, 2004
Posted to the web August 19, 2004

By Thabo Mokgola
Pretoria
Political experts have welcomed as a justified move, the resolution by African
leaders to declare a rebel group in Burundi a terrorist organisation, following
its rebuttal of negotiations to bring about peace in the war-torn country.
Dr Norman Mlambo of the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) told BuaNews
the resolution indicated that those involved in solving the crisis were not
willing to be held ransom at the price of peace.
The decision was taken at the 22nd Summit of the Great Lakes Regional Peace
Initiative on Burundi in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In a communiqué, the leaders, including President Thabo Mbeki and his deputy
Jacob Zuma, declared the Palipehutu-FNL a terrorist organisation.
They urged the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) conventions and protocols on the combating of terrorism to resolve
similarly.
"No one in their right minds would wait [for the FNL] and see what will happen
until the elections. It has to be borne in mind that elections in Burundi will
not be meaningful if one group is still armed," explained Dr Mlambo.
He said it was the hope of all Africans and all concerned parties in the
Burundi impasse that the October polls would bring to an end the atrocities
that saw over 300 000 people killed and millions displaced in the ten-year old
war.
"The UN has to come with a similar resolution to give more authority to the
resolution of the Summit," he said.
Well-respected political commentator Professor Shadrack Gutto told BuaNews said
the labelling of the group as "terrorist" was a "precedent setting move" that
was welcomed.
"Using that concept will heighten the level of disapproval of the FNL in the
international community," he said, adding that it would also make it difficult
for them to conduct their business.
However, he warned that the move would be meaningless if those who were party
to the resolution did not support it with actions.
"They must cut off any links, deny it refuge and any sort of rearguard and thus
ensuring that it does not enjoy any territorial support, ultimately weakening
it."
The Palipehutu-FNL has shunned all efforts to reach a peaceful political
settlement in Burundi, opting instead to engage in brutal and inhumane
massacring of civilians.
The latest - and seemingly the last straw - was last week's massacre of 160
Congolese Tutsis in an attack on the UN refugee camp in Gatumba for which the
organisation claimed responsibility.
In a move that illustrated the FNL's time was up, the AU on Tuesday called on
member states to impose travel sanctions on the rebel group.
In addition, the Burundi government is reported to have issued international
arrest warrants for the movement's leader Agathon Rwasa and its spokesperson
Pasteur Habimana.

   

  ===============================================================================
 Copyright © 2004 BuaNews. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global
                              Media (allAfrica.com).
  ===============================================================================