African Union decides against peacekeepers for Burundi

The African Union (AU) has decided against sending peacekeepers to crisis-hit Burundi after the embattled government said that any such move would be considered an invasion.

Smail Chergui, AU commissioner for peace and security, told a press conference in the Ethiopian capital on Sunday that a proposed deployment of 5,000 troops would be deferred until permission was granted by Bujumbura.

The decision came after a closed-door session at the AU where African leaders are meeting for a two-day summit.Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi, reporting from African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, said the decision was not a surprise considering Burundi's opposition to the plan."It is going to be interesting to see how this delegation will be able to convince them to accept the troops," she said.

Chergui said an AU delegation would now fly to Burundi to hold talks aimed at ending the violence.

January 31, 2016</a></blockquote>">#26thAUSummit </a></p>— Catherine Soi (@C_SOI) <a data-cke-saved-href="https://twitter.com/C_SOI/status/693742484103520256" href="https://twitter.com/C_SOI/status/693742484103520256"> January 31, 2016 </a></blockquote>">

Solomon Dersso, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that while Burundi has demonstrated some flexibility on the issue of dialogue, there has been "complete disagreement between Bujumbura and the AU when it has come to the deployment of [AU] troops".

On Saturday, Ibrahima Fall, Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, told French radio RFI, that deploying toops to the conflict-hit east African country without the consent of Bujumbura was "unimaginable". "It has been, I think, bad communication. It was never the intention of the African Union to deploy a mission to Burundi without the consent of Burundian authorities," the Senegalese diplomat said.

The UN has warned Burundi risks a repeat of a 1993-2006 civil war, with hundreds killed since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would stand for a controversial third term in office.

At least 230,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries. Since Nkurunziza's  re-election in July, clashes between government loyalists and the opposition have turned increasingly violent.

The AU charter's Article 4 (h) gives it the right to intervene in a fellow nation state "in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity." But analysts say other African nations are wary of setting a precedent of deploying troops against the government's wishes. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking on Saturday as the AU summit opened, made clear troops were needed to stem the violence.

"Leaders who stand by while civilians are slaughtered in their name must be held responsible," Ban said, insisting that the Burundi crisis required the "most serious and urgent commitment." He said the UN backed the AU's proposal "to deploy human rights observers and to establish a prevention and protection mission".