AU Warns Burundi Govt, Rebels, Over Delayed Truce

The African Union (AU) has warned Burundi’s government and the PalipeHutu-FNL rebels against their protracted delay in implementing a long overdue 2006 peace deal. Meeting in Addis Ababa, the AU’s Peace and Security Council told the two sides that the international community’s patience was wearing out, urging them to implement the agreement faster so that Burundi can finally recover from a long-running conflict pitting Hutu rebels against the ethnic Tutsi minority. The conflict has claimed an estimated 300,000 people since it intensified in 1993. [PE]