African Union Plans More Talks With Burundi on Peacekeepers
- Continental bloc to send delegation for talks with government
- Deployment of any force needs Burundi's permission, AU says
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The African Union backed away from immediate plans to send peacekeepers to Burundi, saying it will hold talks with the East African nation’s government to agree on an approach to quell nine months of violence.
The continental bloc will send a “high-level panel” for discussions with the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose decision to serve a third term has spurred unrest in which more than 440 people have died. In December, the African Union’s 15-member security panel said it wanted to send 5,000 troops, a proposal Burundi has repeatedly rejected.