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UN-secured centres in Burundi ready for ex-fighters when demobilization begins

UN-secured centres in Burundi ready for ex-fighters when demobilization begins

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The United Nations has secured areas in Burundi where former fighters will lay down their arms in a process that could start next month, an official serving with the UN peacekeeping mission there said today.

"The blue helmets are well deployed in different regions and they will guarantee the security of the three demobilization centres," said Mbaye Faye, chief of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) section of the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB).

"Security is ready," he stressed in an interview with the UN News Service.

Demobilization could start on 29 November - a date agreed to by the parties and others involved during meetings organized by a World Bank delegation which was in Burundi from 21 to 24 October. This timetable "will be proposed to the President of Burundi in his capacity as head of the National Commission on DDR," Mr. Faye explained.

Joint liaison teams, comprised of representatives of the parties as well as ONUB officials and UN military observers, are also in place to verify the demobilization process, Mr. Faye said.

Asked whether the parties are expected to cooperate, Mr. Faye said, "We have no reason to be pessimistic," and noted that the joint ceasefire commission staffed by the UN and representatives of the parties has been functioning well.

ONUB, which was set up by the Security Council in May to help bring about lasting national reconciliation between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis, will have an eventual strength of 5,650 military personnel and up to 1,000 national and international civilian staff.