ADDIS ABABA: A proposed peacekeeping force for troubled Burundi was put on hold Sunday, as African leaders pulled back from sending troops in the face of vehement opposition from the government in Bujumbura.

For now, the AU is proposing more talks. The United Nations has warned that Burundi risks a repeat of a 1993-2006 civil war, with hundreds of people 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.

Burundi has consistently opposed the idea of the AU’s planned 5,000-strong peacekeeping mission, saying the deployment of troops without its express permission would be tantamount to an “invasion force.”

The AU charter’s Article 4(h) gives the pan-African bloc the right to intervene in a fellow nation state “in respect of grave circumstances, namely: War crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.”

But a top African Union diplomat, Ibrahima Fall, said Sunday that sending troops without Burundi’s approval was “unimaginable,” with the bloc deciding to send envoys to hold talks with the government.

“Our organisation acts as it has for the past 20 or 30 years: We meet often, we talk too much, we always write a lot, but we don’t do enough, and sometimes not all,” Deby said.

Analysts say other African nations are wary of setting a precedent of deploying troops against the government’s wishes.

Meanwhile, Burundi was also in news for detaining and then releasing a British and a French journalist during a sweep for rebels in flashpoint districts of the capital.

In a statement on its website, Le Monde newspaper had demanded the release of both journalists, saying they were the newspaper’s special correspondents in Burundi.