South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma will carry out a scheduled tour of the troubled Great Lakes region this week as Burundi is in the grips of a massive rebel assault on the capital Bujumbura.

Zuma, a "facilitator" in protracted negotiations to end Burundi's 10-year-old civil war, will visit Uganda and Rwanda as well as Burundi, his office said in a statement.

The mission coincides with an offensive launched last Monday by Hutu rebels of the National Liberation Forces (FNL), which has claimed 200 lives.

The trip to discuss the transition process for the central African country had been planned long before the current fighting broke out, a spokesperson said yesterday.

The statement from Zuma's office said: "Deputy President Zuma is concerned about the violence and loss of life reported in Burundi this week, and appeals to all parties to respect the transitional process and work towards lasting peace in their country".

The FNL, unlike other armed groups in Burundi, has so far refused to enter into talks for a negotiated settlement of the civil war, which has claimed more than 300 000 lives.

Three other rebel groups signed a ceasefire agreement in December.

Zuma is set to arrive in the Ugandan capital Kampala today ahead of talks with President Yoweri Museveni, who heads a regional initiative on Burundi, and Vice President Gilbert Bukenya tomorrow.

The following day Zuma is to hold consultations in Kigali with Rwandan President Paul Kagame before heading to Bujumbura for talks with members of Burundi's interim government.

An African intervention force of troops from South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique, the first to be deployed by the fledgling African Union, has been slow to arrive in Burundi, with 1 250 men on the ground of a total planned force of 2 870.

As part of the peace process in Burundi, Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu, took over as president from Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, in April for the second 18 months of an interim power-sharing regime. - Sapa-AFP.