The leader of the main Hutu rebel group in Burundi says he will continue to stay away from proposed peace talks, despite the appointment of former South African President Nelson Mandela as peace mediator.

The rebel leader, Colonel Jean Bosco Ndayikengurukiye, said his group had evidence that Mr Mandela's administration had helped the current government in Burundi with arms, despite a regional embargo.

The colonel said he wanted direct talks with the Burundian army and government instead of the 18-month peace process which has been planned.

Colonel Ndayikengurukiye also warned of a looming humanitarian disaster in camps set up by the government for hundreds of thousands of Hutu civilians in an effort to deny food and support to the Hutu rebels.

He described them as Nazi-style concentration camps and said his organisation - the CNDD-FDD - would not consider a ceasefire until they were dismantled.

'Don't neglect Burundi'

He warned the world not to neglect Burundi as he said it neglected neighbouring Rwanda at the time of the 1994 genocide.

Members of the minority Tutsi ethnic group have dominated Burundi since independence, except for a brief attempt at democracy which ended with a Tutsi-led coup in 1996.

Colonel Ndayikengurukiye's rebels say they are fighting for democracy on behalf of the majority Hutus.

The Tutsi-led government is reluctant to relinquish power, fearing armed Hutus would rise up against the Tutsi population in a repeat of the Rwandan genocide.

Mr Mandela accepted the role as mediator following the death in October of former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, who had headed the peace talks up until then.

It was hoped that the South African statesman could find a way out of the deadlock in the peace process.