BURUNDI: The last major rebel group hands in weapons at a ceremony marking the end of an armed struggle against the government

Record ID: 453820

  • Title: BURUNDI: The last major rebel group hands in weapons at a ceremony marking the end of an armed struggle against the government
  • Date: 21st April 2009
  • Summary: BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI (APRIL 17, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LT. GENERAL DERRICK MGWEBI, SPECIAL ENVOY OF CHARLES NQAKULA, SOUTH AFRICAN CHIEF MEDIATOR, ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) LT. GENERAL DERRICK MGWEBI, SPECIAL ENVOY OF SOUTH AFRICAN CHIEF MEDIATOR, SAYING: "These commanders have been working tirelessly from last week trying to separate their combatants into those who are going to integrate into the security forces of Burundi, those who are going to demobilise and those who won't be demobilising, but who receiving special packages, including women." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS ASKING QUESTIONS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF EVARISTE NDAYISHIMIYE, BURUNDI'S GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE TALKING JONAS NSHIMIRIMANA, FORCES FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION (FNL) REPRESENTATIVE TALKING JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) LT. GENERAL DERRICK MGWEBI, SPECIAL ENVOY OF SOUTH AFRICAN CHIEF MEDIATOR, SAYING: "If the FNL give us a list and they say these are their weapons, we work on the base of trust, and the FNL is demobilising. From now on, if anything happens in terms of somebody shooting or doing something, it is not political, it is criminal." MGWEBI TALKING TO NDAYISHIMIYE AND NSHIMIRIMANA BUBANZA PROVINCE, BURUNDI (APRIL 18, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AGATHON RWASA, FNL LEADER WITH OTHER FNL FIGHTERS VARIOUS OF FNL FIGHTERS LISTENING TO RWASA SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Kirundi) AGATHON RWASA, FNL LEADER, SAYING: "Some will join the army, others will return to civilian life. Some of you may have wanted to join the army and couldn't, it's because the country and the international community don't have the resources." VARIOUS OF FNL FIGHTERS LISTENING TO RWASA SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) AGATHON RWASA, FNL LEADER, SAYING: "The FNL has a lot to offer to the Burundians, especially since we haven't reached total national reconciliation. We think that after all, we must continue to work towards a better Burundi, where people feel that they are truly brothers and sisters." VARIOUS OF SEIZED WEAPONS VARIOUS OF FNL FIGHTERS IN THE DEMOBILISATION CAMP OF RUBIRA IN BUBANZA
  • Embargoed: 6th May 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Burundi
  • Country: Burundi
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA8L9KEIQXEV23KJBHYG2DIXH64
  • Story Text: Burundi's security forces will begin integrating 3,500 fighters from the country's last rebel group, the Forces for National Forces(FNL) next month in another step towards peace in the central African nation, mediators said on Friday (April 17).
    Under the agreement, 2,100 former combatants from the FNL will join the army, while the remaining 1,400 will join the police.
    All the former rebel fighters will be retrained for their new jobs.

    "These commanders have been working tirelessly from last week trying to separate their combatants into those who are going to integrate to the defense security forces of Burundi., those who are going to demobilise and those who won't be demobilising, but who receiving special packages, including women," said Lt. General Derrick Mgwebi, special envoy of South African chief mediator Charles Nqakula.
    The FNL signed a peace deal in mid-2006 that ended two decades of ethnic war, but tensions have remained high.

    "If the FNL give us a list and they say these are their weapons, we work on the base of trust, and the FNL is demobilising. From now on, if anything happens in terms of somebody shooting or doing something, it is not political, it is criminal," added Mgwebi.
    After many delays, mediators led by Charles Nqakula, South Africa's defense minister, had given both sides until the end of last year to complete the peace process or risk losing regional support.
    The integration deal calls for 5,000 former FNL combatants to return immediately to civilian life - a process that formally started on Saturday (April 18) with the FNL leader Agathon Rwasa, formally handing over his weapons.
    Rwasa explained to his fighters why not everyone in the estimated 18,000-strong rebel force would be absorbed into the country's security forces.

    "Some will join the army, others will return to civilian life.
    Some of you may have wanted to join the army and couldn't, it's only because the country and the international community don't have the required resources," Rwasa said.
    Under the peace deal, the FNL will be registered as a political party, after it disarms.

    "The FNL has a lot to offer to the Burundians, especially since we haven't reached total national reconciliation. We think that ,after all, we must continue to work towards a better Burundi, where people feel that they are truly brothers and sisters," Rwasa added.
    The military and political integration of the FNL rebels is seen by many as the final barrier to lasting stability in the coffee-growing nation of about eight million people.
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