UN peace panel visits strife-torn Burundi
BUJUMBURA (AFP) — A United Nations follow-up peace commission arrived in Burundi Sunday to study efforts towards peace following civil war war in this central African state where sporadic violence continues.
The UN Commission for the Consolidation of Peace (CCP) will spend five days "gaining first hand information about the situation in Burundi and engage in dialogue with the government and others on the current state of implementation of a strategic framework for consolidating peace," a press statement said.
The visit was postponed last month because of new violence between government forces and the rebel National Liberation Forces (FNL).
The CCP is a new UN inter-governmental consultative panel supporting peace efforts in countries emerging from conflict.
The strategic framework for peace in Burundi is being financed by the UN with a sum of 35 million dollars (22.6 million euros).
The FNL rebels have said they will send representatives to the capital Bujumbura on Wednesday to discuss implementing a ceasefire signed with the government.
Burundi is struggling to wind up a civil war between government forces and rebels that began in 1993 and has claimed some 300,000 lives.
A ceasefire was signed in September 2006 but has not been implemented because the FNL is demanding political and military power-sharing, which the government refuses.
