Pan-African body to send delegation only after government said any peacekeeping would amount to an “invasion”.

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, a report by Al-Jazeera noted on 31 Jan 2016.
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.