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Burundi Signs Agreement on Nile River Water Use   Addis Ababa, March 1, 2011 (WIC) – Burundi is the sixth nation to sign an agreement on water usage from the Nile River. The might enable the ratification of the agreement, which might remove the Egypt veto power over the rights of the water flow.  Mr. Shillingi Mugisha, member of the Nile Technical Advisory Committee,  Burundian Water and Environment Minister Jean-Marie Nibirantije expressed satisfaction for the achievement.   A 1929 treaty brokered by the former colonial power, Britain, granted Egypt a veto over projects that may alter the flow of the Nile. A 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan claimed 90 percent of the Nile’s flow for the two countries. The so- called Cooperative Framework Agreement, signed by Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya in May, will establish a commission to oversee dam building and irrigation development, effectively stripping Egypt of the veto. Almost all of Egypt’s water supply comes from the Nile.

 

Burundi denies war crimes in DR Congo Burundian government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba © BINUB/afrol News 24 September, 2010 - The Burundian government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba expressed that the government of Burundi denies a UN report about war crimes committed in Congo Kinshasa between 1993 to 2003, for which is demands removal from the indicted countries. The UN report mentioned massacres, rapes and looting by soldiers of several countries and of rebels of the Great Lakes region during the wars that took place in former Zaire. The report cited among others the Burundian army and Burundian. Spokesman Nzobonariba claims that Burundian fighters operated only on Burundian soil Burundi is going through a period of reconciliation after a long civil war (1993-2006), in which the armed forces were dominated by the Tutsi minority fought against several Hutu rebel movements, including the FDD, which currently is in power. Since 2005, Burundi's army and police forces are composed of both ethnic groups.