Burundi rebels to join talks

The Burundi government says the main Hutu rebel group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy, has formally committed itself to negotiate with the government to restore peace.

The decision follows Tuesday's talks between president Buyoya and the FDD leader, Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye -- the first since the civil war broke out in 1993.

The talks, in Gabon, were brokered by President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A spokesman for Mr Kabila said the sides made considerable progress towards implementing a peace accord signed in Tanzania last year. That agreement envisages a power-sharing arrangement between the Hutus and theTutsis in Burundi to put an end to a civil war which has killed more than two-hundred-thousand people.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service