Belgium donates 60 milion euros aid to Burundi

BUJUMBURA, Oct 27 (Reuters) Belgium granted Burundi 60 million euros in aid today, renewing bilateral cooperation suspended after the tiny central African nation plunged into a civil war in 1993.

The funds will be spent on health, education and agricultural projects over the next two years, officials said.

''We hope this will help improve the living conditions of the Burundian people and fight poverty,'' Belgium's Minister of Cooperation and Development, Armand de Decker, told a news conference in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

The coffee-growing nation has suffered successive cycles of bloodshed since winning independence from Belgium in 1962.

Speaking alongside Decker, Burundi's Foreign Minister, Antoinette Batumubwira, said the aid was a vote of confidence.

''We have been waiting 13 years for the renewal of direct cooperation with Belgium,'' she told reporters.

''Today Belgium has decided to revive the traditional cooperation of development, proving that our partners understand the government's efforts to rebuild our country.'' REUTERS PDM VC2005