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Sout h African President Thabo Mbeki jumped into negotiations between the president of conflict-ridden Burundi and its main rebel leader yesterday in a bid to breathe life into the faltering peace process.

Mbeki and his deputy, Jacob Zuma, the chief mediator in trying to bring an end to a ruinous civil war in the southern African country, joined the discussions directly late yesterday, a spokesperson for Zuma said.

Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye, who took over heading the transitional government in May, and Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), the largest Hutu rebel group, were meeting for the first time since the collapse of a mid-September summit in Tanzania over a power sharing arrangement.

Zuma held informal discussions with Ndayizeye and his delegation earlier in the day, expressing hope that the negotiations would proceed speedily.

"President Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye and Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the FDD, are in negotiations here," Zuma's spokesperson Lakela Kaunda said.

"They thought it better to bypass having a plenary with all the usual pleasantries and go straight into negotiations. You can't negotiate in a full plenary," she said.

The talks had been earlier delayed when the rebels refused to eat lunch in the same room as officials from the Burundi government, and then left the premises to dine elsewhere.

The foreign ministry said in a statement the discussions would try to resolve outstanding issues from a Regional Peace Initiative Summit held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in September.

"Consultations will focus on, among other things, the conclusion of a power sharing arrangement between the two parties," foreign ministry spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said.

"In terms of the ceasefire agreement signed in December 2002, the FDD is to participate in the transitional institutions of Burundi such as the government, national assembly and security apparatus.

"The consultations are aimed at working out the areas of participation and integration," Mamoepa said.

The new round of talks comes after similar negotiations were held in Pretoria in August, after which Zuma said "some progress" had been made towards implementing ceasefire deals signed in December 2002 and last January.

The pacts have been repeatedly violated, with both parties accusing each other of breaching the accords and leaving hundreds of mostly civilians dead.

The talks in South Africa in August revolved around the composition of the transitional government, with the FDD demanding a vice presidency and the posts of National Assembly speaker and army chief of staff, challenging the dominance of Ndayizeye's party, the Burundi Democratic Front.

It is also believed that creating a second vice presidency would virtually destroy the ethnic balance established by the Arusha accord.

Vice President Alphonse Kadege belongs to the Tutsi minority.

Burundi's second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), was not party to the December ceasefire and has repeatedly refused to enter into talks with the government.

Both the FDD and the FNL have been blamed for recent violence in the country, whose civil war broke out in 1993 between rebels from the Hutu majority and the Tutsi-dominated army, and has claimed some 300 000 mainly civilian lives. – Sapa-AFP.

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