SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT ON BURUNDI

SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT ON BURUNDI

Following is the press statement on Burundi delivered today by Security Council President Ismael Abraão Gaspar Martins (Angola):

The members of the Security Council,

Expressed their satisfaction with the signing in Pretoria on 2 November of a protocol supplementing the protocol of 8 October 2003, by the President of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Ndayizeye, and the leader of the Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie (CNDD-FDD), Mr. Nkurunziza;

Welcomed in this regard the efforts made by South Africa, particularly its President, Mr. Mbeki, which crowned those of the Ugandan and Tanzanian heads of State and other actors of the Regional Initiative for Burundi;

Further welcomed the forthcoming regional summit, expected to endorse the Pretoria Protocol, scheduled to begin on 14 November 2003 in Dar es Salaam;

Emphasized the importance of the timetable stipulated in the Pretoria Protocol being effectively respected, with regard, in particular, to the cessation of hostilities, disengagement, cantonment and quartering in barracks of forces, and the entry of the CNDD-FDD into the transitional institutions;

Urged the Forces Nationales de Libération (Palipehutu-FNL) of Mr. Rwasa, the last armed rebel group that has not joined the Arusha Agreement peace process, to do so without further delay.

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