BUJUMBURA, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Burundi's lawmakers on Friday elected Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the predominantly ex-Hutu rebel FDD party, president of the central African nation, in an effort to bring the 12 years of civil conflicts to an end.

    The election was held in a joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate, both dominated by the FDD, short for Forces for the Defense of Democracy.

Pierre Nkurunziza, the leader of the former Burundian Hutu rebel Forces for Defence of Democracy (FDD), speaks to the media in the capital Bujumbura, in this file photograph taken January 10, 2005. (Reuters)

    The presidential election is technically the last step in a peace plan signed in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2000, to end the three years of transitional period and in an attempt to bring back stability to the conflicts-ridden nation.

    "This day is written in golden characters here and in the haven for Burundi," said Paul Ngarambe, chairman of the electoral commission.

    Nkurunziza secured an overwhelming majority of over 90 percent of the votes cast, exceeding the two-thirds as allowed in the Constitution for him to take over the power in the country which suffered more than a decade of civil conflicts between minority Tutsis and majority Hutus. People present gave him warm applause to congratulate on his election.

    The FDD, which joined Burundi's power-sharing government in November 2003, has won the parliamentary elections in July with 58percent of the votes while secured 30 out of the 34 seats up for election in the Senate, virtually guaranteeing presidency for its chairman Nkurunziza, who had been chosen as the only candidate for the presidential selection.

    The 42-year-old Nkurunziza joined the FDD in 1995 as a soldier. After rising through the ranks, he was appointed deputy secretary-general of the party in 1998. In 2001, he was elected chairman. There was a split in the group in late 2001 and he was reelected to the post of chairman in August 2004.

    Since late 2003, he has served as minister for good governance in the transitional government of former president Domitien Ndayizeye.

    Under Burundi's new constitution that was overwhelmingly endorsed in February, the National Assembly will comprise 60 percent Hutus and 40 percent Tutsis. The Hutus make up 85 percent of the country's nearly 7 million people. The minority Tutsis, who make 15 percent of the country's population, is losing the dominant position they have enjoyed since independence from Belgium in 1962.

    Ethnic divisions have repeatedly driven the country into civil conflicts. The latest round of war broke out in 1993 after the country's first democratically elected leader, a Hutu, was assassinated. Since then fightings between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi military have killed some 300,000 people.

    The swearing-in of the new president slated for August 26, together with final district elections in September will end Burundi's over three years of transitional period and is expected to usher in stability for this tiny central African country. Enditem

    Profile: Nkurunziza, new president of Burundi

    BUJUMBURA, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the predominantly ex-Hutu rebel Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD), was elected president of Burundi by the country's lawmakers on Friday.

    Nkurunziza was born in 1963 in Burundi's capital city of Bujumbura. He graduated from the University of Burundi in 1990, majoring in education and sports.

    His father had been a member of parliament in 1965 and governor of two provinces before being killed in 1972 during a period of ethnic violence that claimed the lives of over 100,000 Burundians.

    Nkurunziza was a lecturer at Burundi University when civil war broke out in the country following the assassination of Burundi's first ethnic Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, in 1993.

    He joined the CNDD-FDD in 1995 as a soldier after the Tutsi army attacked the university campus.

    After rising through the ranks, Nkurunziza was appointed deputy secretary-general of the CNDD-FDD in 1998. In 2001, he was elected chairman. There was a split in the group in late 2001. He was re-elected to the post of chairman in August 2004.

    Since late 2003, he has served as minister for good governance in the transitional government of President Domitien Ndayizeye.

    Nkurunziza married in 1994 and is the father of two boys. Enditem