Pierre Nkurunziza has promised new peace
talks |
Burundi's
parliament has elected a new president in the final step of a deal
to end 12 years of war between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi army.
Former rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza was the only candidate,
after his FDD group won parliamentary elections.
He will be the first president chosen through democratic means
since the start of the civil war in 1993. The vote follows five
years of peace talks.
A small group of Tutsis has dominated Burundi since
independence in 1961.
Under the terms of the deal agreed between the government and
Hutu rebels, democracy will be balanced with guarantees for the
Tutsi minority.
Peace talks priority
The BBC's Rob Walker in the capital, Bujumbura, says there are
now real hopes that Burundi is finally turning the corner away
from violence.
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There are indications that the FNL is
planning to intensify attacks from now until the
inauguration, just to show that it is still present on the
ground
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Mr Nkurunziza, 40, is to be sworn in on 26 August.
Our correspondent says the new president will need to reassure
Tutsis, some of whom are wary of rule by former Hutu rebels.
Mr Nkurunziza will also need to breathe life back into a
shattered economy if he is to meet the growing expectations of
Burundi's impoverished population, our correspondent says.
On the eve of Mr Nkurunziza's election, the last remaining
rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL) attacked a
military base, leaving three soldiers and five rebels dead, the
army said.
The FNL is a much smaller group than Mr Nkurunziza's Forces for
the Defence of Democracy (FDD).
"There are indications that the FNL is planning to intensify
attacks from now until the inauguration, just to show that it is
still present on the ground and maybe put some pressure on the new
government to talk to them," said army spokesman Maj Adolphe
Manirakiza.
In a speech to parliament on Thursday, Mr Nkurunziza vowed to
engage the FNL in peace talks.
"The first priority is to engage in talks with the FNL and to
conclude hopefully a ceasefire agreement with that movement," he
said.