BURUNDI-TANZANIA: Rebel FNL, government officials begin ceasefire talks

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

DAR ES SALAAM, 10 Jun 2005 (IRIN) - Delegates from the Burundian government and the rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) began talks on Friday on how to implement a ceasefire agreement, after almost a week of delays.

"Both sides are blaming each other for violating the ceasefire agreement," Joram Biswalo, a senior official in Tanzania's ministry of foreign affairs, told IRIN in Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

FNL is Burundi's only rebel group to continue fighting. All other former rebel groups have signed peace agreements with the transitional government and have since joined transitional institutions.

Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and FNL leader Agathon Rwasa signed a ceasefire agreement on 15 May to end 12 years of civil war, which has resulted in the death of an estimated 300,000 civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more.

Rwasa and Ndayizeye agreed to set up a technical commission to work out how the ceasefire would take effect.

[ENDS]