Ceasefire talks fail to start

Hutu rebels currently in Dar es Salaam for ceasefire talks have said that they will not take part in negotiations until they have observed two days of mourning for civilians recently massacred in Burundi, sources told IRIN on Thursday. The Conseil National pour la Defense de la Democratie/Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) faction led by Pierre Nkurunzizahave, in the Tanzanian commercial capital for talks with the Burundian transitional government, on Thursday called for time "to think about the people in Burundi". Salvator Ntacobamaza, the group's spokesman in Dar es Salaam, told IRIN that the massacre was proof of his group's assertions that the government does not control the army. "We have always claimed that the transitional government is not powerful enough to control the army. The massacre of up to 1,000 civilians by the army is proof that what we have been saying all along is correct," he claimed. The chairman of the Burundi parliamentary human rights committee, Leonidas Ntibayazi, reported on Tuesday that 183 people had been confirmed killed by unknown gunmen on 9 September in Itaba Commune, central Gitega Province. There has been no independent confirmation of who is responsible for the killing. The Burundian government delegation in Dar es Salaam refused to speculate on the numbers that the rebels claim have been killed, but they confirmed that an investigation into the massacre was to be launched. The talks were due to restart on Thursday after initial negotiations between the government and the rebels in August failed to achieve any results due to disagreements over who the "real" belligerents were. Ntacobamaza also claimed that President Pierre Buyoya was adopting a two-pronged attack on the rebels. "He is sending delegates abroad to negotiate, lobby the international community and raise funds. At the same time, he is using these funds to send troops to kill the population," he alleged. Meanwhile, the South African facilitators of the talks told IRIN that a small faction of the rebel PALIPEHUTU-FNL (Forces nationales pour la liberation), which is led by Alain Mugarabona, would be arriving for talks in Dar es Salaam towards the end of the week.