The United Nations and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday welcomed a referendum in Burundi which overwhelmingly approved a new power-sharing constitution.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement released Tuesday that he congratulates the Transitional Government of Burundi and the Burundian people for the successful conduct of the referendum on the post-transitional constitution.

Annan also called on all Burundian parties to "build on this positive momentum and ensure the early conduct of the national elections that would conclude the transitional process in Burundi."

Louis Michel, EU development commissioner, said in a statement that the referendum "went off in a more than satisfactory way."

The commissioner praised that it is "all the more to be admired since Burundi is coming out of 12 years of conflict and hasn't had elections since 1993. The people clearly voted for peace."

Burundians voted Monday in a referendum on a constitution that proposes power-sharing between majority Hutus and minority Tutsis to put a final end to an 11-year civil conflict that has claimed 250,000 lives.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2005)