BUJUMBURA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Burundi and Belgium have vowed to rehabilitate bilateral relations that had faced "turbulences" since 2015, the Belgian ambassador to Burundi said Tuesday.
"We went through a period of turbulences. Luckily for us, turbulences can not last forever ... What is important is that there is willingness on both sides to improve them," Belgian Ambassador to Burundi Bernard Quintin said after meeting with Burundian National Assembly Speaker Pascal Nyabenda.
"We (Belgium) are willing to resume full cooperation with Burundi, but this will be done step by step," said Quintin.
Relations between Burundi and Belgium, Burundi's former colonial power, have deteriorated since April 2015 when Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run his controversial third term, which he won in July 2015.
Opponents to Nkurunziza's third term accused him of violating the national constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement that ended a decade-long civil war.
Belgium has been accused of hosting some Burundian citizens who staged a failed coup on May 13, 2015 and who are destabilizing the Burundian government by supporting "insurgents".
The Burundian government also accused Belgian authorities of "influencing all decisions" taken by the European Union (EU) against the Burundian government and Burundian citizens.
More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and some 300,000 people fled to neighboring countries, mostly Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) since the outbreak of the crisis.
In December 2016, the Burundian government recalled the Burundian ambassador to Belgium over deteriorating relations between two countries.
LUSAKA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Zambia will hold public hearings to get views from citizens on the country's membership to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a senior government official said on Wednesday.
Last month, President Edgar Lungu said the government would consult the people before making any decision on the country's membership to the ICC.
This followed a resolution adopted by African leaders at the African Union (AU) Summit where they called for a collective withdrawal from the international court, although the decision is non-binding after accusing the court of only targeting African leaders.
Minister of Justice Given Lubinda said the public hearings will run from March 27 to May 31 in 30 of the country's 103 districts which have been selected due to their population size.
Citizens in other districts will be allowed to make written submissions through the offices of district commissioners, he added.
He said in a ministerial statement in parliament that after the submissions, the government will come up with a report and a position on the matter to be presented at the AU Summit in June or July this year.
He further said there was no formal complaint on Zambia or any Zambian national at the ICC. Enditem
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