Burundi signing 'to go ahead'

Violence has continued despite the talks

Reports from Bujumbura say the parties to the draft accord to end the fighting in Burundi have agreed to sign a provisional agreement next Monday.

In an announcement to journalists and officials, President Buyoya said the parties would put their names to the document signalling their acceptance of elements in the draft on which they had reached agreement.

It is not yet known how much of the draft accord remains in dispute.

At least 200,000 people have been killed in fighting between the forces of the Tutsi-led government and Hutu rebel groups since 1993.

Peace mediator and former South African President Nelson has been pushing for an agreement to be signed as planned on 28 August.

Clinton

President Clinton has announced that he will travel to the Tanzanian town of Arusha for the signing ceremony.

Nelson Mandela: Deadline for the deal is 28 August

Burundian President Pierre Buyoya had been holding informal meetings in Pretoria with rebel leaders, former Burundian heads of state and leaders of the country's main political parties.

The various factions had been completely unable to agree on how a transition to a democratically elected government should take place.

Last month, Mr Mandela presented a draft peace agreement, running to over 100 pages, outlining how Burundi could move towards a pluralist democracy, overcoming the antagonisms of the past.

The draft document proposed, amongst other things, a new ethnic balance in the army, the liberation of political prisoners and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to help promote unity and address past grievances.

Refugees flee

Meanwhile, the United Nation refugee agency, UNHCR, says there has been an increase of refugees fleeing into Tanzania to escape the fighting between the rebels and government forces in Burundi.

A UNCHR spokesman in Ngara in Western Tanzania, Mohamed Farooqi, said in the past 19 days, more than 2,000 refugees had arrived from Chankuzo in north-eastern Burundi.

A BBC correspondent in Ngara, says the influx of refugees is happening at a time of reduced food supplies in the camps, following a World Food Programme announcement in July that it was forced to reduce by 40% the food rations it distributes in refugee camps in Tanzania.