The Tanzanian city of Arusha was also the location for negotiations
that led to the deal to end the ethnically charged 1993 to 2005 civil
war.
Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza addresses a news conference
attended by the visiting United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
(not seen in picture) in the capital Bujumbura February 23, 2016
Tanzania opened peace talks on Saturday in a bid to end a political crisis in Burundi,
but some opponents said the absence of several leading opposition
groups made it more like a "monologue" by the government, undermining
the process.
Burundi has been mired in a year-long crisis that has killed more than 450 people since President Pierre Nkurunziza
pursued and won a third term. Opponents said his move violated the
constitution and a peace deal that ended a civil war in 2005.
Dialogue
in Bujumbura last year between the government and opponents failed to
bridge differences, and talks mediated by Uganda earlier this year also
swiftly stalled.
"The Burundi peace talks began in Arusha today under the facilitation of former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa," Richard Owora Othieno, spokesman of the six-state East African Community which includes Burundi, told Reuters.
The
Tanzanian city of Arusha was also the location for negotiations that
led to the deal to end the ethnically charged 1993 to 2005 civil war.
Renewed
violence in Burundi has alarmed a region where memories of the Rwanda's
1994 genocide remain raw. Like Rwanda, Burundi has an ethnic Hutu
majority and a Tutsi minority.
Till now, the
violence in Burundi has largely followed political rather than ethnic
loyalties. But diplomats fear ethnic wounds could reopen the longer
violence continues.
Senior government officials
are attending the talks. But opponents said some major opposition groups
were excluded, including CNARED, an umbrella group that includes
politicians in exile opposed to the third term.
The government has said CNARED is not a registered party.
"For
us, there is no dialogue, it is rather a monologue, a time wasting
because dialogue or talks should be between two parties in conflict," said CNARED spokesman Pancrace Cimpaye in a statement.
Charles
Nditije, president of UPRONA, another opposition party which does not
have official status, told Reuters that CNARED's absence undermined the
value of the talks.
He also said a grouping of civil society organisations opposed to the third term and other parties were also left out.
The
talks were attended by some Western donors and a U.N. representative.
The Tanzanian mediators did not immediately provide a list of opposition
groups attending.
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