Burundi to hold ‘talks’

NAIROBI: Burundi is to hold political talks to try to end months of violence, President Pierre Nkurunziza said on Tuesday after meeting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Ban said Nkurunziza had also promised to lift media restrictions, and the presidency said 2,000 prisoners would be freed, although the opposition was sceptical, doubting whether it would include its supporters. Diplomatic efforts are mounting to the quell fighting in the central African nation 10 years after it emerged from an ethnically charged civil war.

Three people were killed in attacks in the capital on the eve of Ban´s visit.

More than 400 people have been killed since April when Nkurunziza said he would run for a third term, triggering street protests and a coup attempt.

Opposition parties say his election bid, which he went on to win, was unconstitutional. "Burundians and UN agree that inter-Burundian dialogue shall bring together Burundians but the perpetrators of insecurity ...will not be involved," Nkurunziza told a joint news conference with Ban in Bujumbura.