Background: Burundi's first democratically elected president was
assassinated in October 1993 after only one hundred days in
office. Since then, some 200,000 Burundians have perished in
widespread, often intense ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi
factions. Hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced
or have become refugees in neighboring countries. Burundi
troops, seeking to secure their borders, briefly intervened in
the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998. A
new transitional government, inaugurated on 1 November 2001,
signed a power-sharing agreement with the largest rebel faction
in December 2003 and set in place a provisional constitution in
October 2004. Implementation of the agreement has been
problematic, however, as one remaining rebel group refuses to
sign on and elections have been repeatedly delayed, clouding
prospects for a sustainable peace. Photos from North No Start a
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