The negotiations are between the Transitional Government of Burundi and the National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) led by Pierre Nkurunziza. The negotiations ended on the 7th of November 2002 without the conclusion of an agreement, due to the expiry of the cease-fire finalisation deadline set by Heads of State of the Great Lakes region at the 18th Regional Summit on Burundi on 7 October 2002. The 19th Summit will take place on the 1st of December 2002 in Arusha, Tanzania.
The Chairperson of the Great Lakes Regional Initiative on Burundi, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, has mandated Deputy President Zuma to continue engagements with the CNDD-FDD and the Transitional Government of Burundi with a view to finalising all outstanding issues before the Summit.
The two parties had covered a lot of ground by the 7th of November, and had reached agreement on a number of areas, including the following:
1. The Implementation of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Re-integration programmes as well as the de-mining and destruction of excess weapons in phase two of the Draft Ceasefire Agreement;
2. Reform, establishment of the new armed forces, selection and training of the soldiers and leadership core;
3. Addressing of the issue of the prisoners of war;
4. Mechanisms to implement the Cease-fire Agreement;
5. Recognition by the parties of their responsibility to maintain strict observance and compliance to the Ceasefire Agreement;
6. Provision of the certified lists of their combatants, weapons and equipment inventory to the UN Mission;
7. Declaring by the parties of their disposition and location of their forces and all military equipment to the UN Mission;
8. Nomination of their members to the Joint Cease-fire Commission and the Joint Liaison Teams at the time of signing the Ceasefire Agreement;
9. Ensuring that all foreign elements within their ranks are declared and surrendered to the UN and do not form part of the certified list for integration purposes; and,
The outstanding issues in the Draft Cease-fire Agreement, on which the parties had not reached agreement include:
* The withdrawal of all foreign forces from Burundi and withdrawal of the Burundi armed forces from foreign lands, the movement and monitoring of Burundi armed forces to the barracks, the movement and monitoring of armed parties, combatants to disengagement and assembly areas under the escort of the United Nations.
* The continuous engagement of parties that have not signed the cease-fire agreement.
* The departure of mercenaries and foreign forces from Burundi.
Given the agreement already reached on a number of issues, Deputy President Zuma is confident that the CNDD-FDD and the Transitional Government will find common ground on the outstanding issues, and finalise an agreement before the Summit on the 1st of December - The Presidency
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