BURUNDI FACES renewed regional isolation following last week's decision by three airlines to suspend flights to its capital, Bujumbura.

Kenya's national carrier Kenya Airways, its Ethiopian counterpart Ethiopian Airlines, and the privately-owned Regional Air withdrew their services citing insecurity.

The withdrawals came shortly after Burundi's President Pierre Buyoya announced that he would not be handing over power to a transitional leader under a new peace plan unless fighting in the country ceased.

The announcement followed the biggest assault in six years by hardline Hutu rebels of the National Liberation Forces, who launched an offensive in the suburbs of Bujumbura in February. 

The new peace plan is part of a compromise proposal put forward in Arusha last month by former South African President Nelson Mandela. 

The deal proposes that a candidate from Burundi's ruling minority Tutsi community lead the country during the first half of a three-year transition period. A candidate from the Hutu community would then take over for the remaining 18 months.

So far, however, no names have been agreed on, and six of the seven Hutu parties which attended last month's talks have already rejected the proposal.

Burundi was placed under a regional economic blockade by nine East and Central African countries on July 31, 1996, six days after Major Buyoya, a Tutsi, seized power in a coup.

The regional powers were demanding the unbanning of political parties, the restoration of the country's national assembly and unconditional all-party talks.

 The economic and trade embargo was lifted early last year but not before Burundi had undergone its worst ever financial and political crisis, culminating in the closure of its embassies in Nairobi, Kampala, Stockholm and Rome. 

Prior to last week's suspension, Kenya Airways made five scheduled passenger flights to and from Bujumbura every week. Ethiopian Airlines had two on its Addis Ababa route, while Regional Air had two scheduled flights every week on its Nairobi-Bujumbura route.

Sabena Airlines, the only non-African airline that had regular scheduled flights to Bujumbura, pulled out last December after unidentified gunmen opened fire on its Nairobi-bound Airbus 330-200 airliner as it approached Bujumbura airport. 

The withdrawals mean that Air Burundi, which provided airport ground services to the airlines, is now the only airline providing regular flights to and from Bujumbura.