Delegates in Dar es Salaam for preliminary consultations on ceasefire

Delegations to hold "preliminary consultations" aimed at laying the technical groundwork for planned ceasefire negotiations have arrived in Dar es Salaam, according to diplomatic sources in the Tanzanian city.

A delegation of South African mediators arrived on Wednesday to join the Burundi government team, which is led by the presidential adviser, Ambroise Niyonsaba, and teams from rival factions of Burundi's rebel Force pour la defence de la democratie (FDD). A diplomat in Dar es Salaam told IRIN that the delegations would be examining each others' ceasefire proposals, with view to amalgamating them as a single document. However, another Hutu rebel group, the Force nationale de liberation, has not said it would take part.

If agreement is reached on the ceasefire document, a regional summit will be convened to endorse the document. The presidents of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the prime minister of Ethiopia, and delegations from the DRC, the African Union and the EU would most likely attend the summit, a diplomat said.

Leaders of the Great Lakes region had asked South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma and President Omar Bongo of Gabon to work toward a ceasefire deal between the Burundi government and both wings of the FDD, and the FNL, led by Rwasa Agathon.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is on Thursday due to begin debating the peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring Rwanda signed on 30 July. The Council is due enter into discussions, with Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and government representatives from Kinshasa and Kigali, centred on implementing the accord designed to end four-years of war between the two countries and their proxies.