Armed Hutu groups to attend talks in Kenya

The mediator in the Burundi conflict, former South African President Nelson Mandela, on Thursday told a news conference that a meeting between Burundian President Pierre Buyoya and armed Hutu rebel groups would take place in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi on 22 September. The two rebel groups are the Forces pour la liberation national (FLN), led by Cossan Kabura, and the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), led by Jean-Bosco Ndayikegurikiye. The peace agreement signed last week in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha did not provide for a ceasefire. Mandela said President Paul Kagame had also agreed to attend the Nairobi talks.

Mandela also told a news conference that the four Tutsi parties that refused to sign the agreement had been called to South Africa for talks. The parties that refused to sign are Ralliement pour la democratie et le developpement economique (RADDES), the Alliance Nationale pour le Droit et le developpement economique (ANADDE), the Parti social democrate (PSD) and Parti independent des travailleurs (PIT).