Citation
DAR ES SALAAM, Feb 14 (AFP) - Peace talks between the Rwandan government and the rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) were adjourned Sunday to allow the Organisation of African Unity's (OAU) council of ministers deliberate on the conflict.
A statement from the Tanzanian foreign ministry said "in the light of the forthcoming 57th session of the OAU council of ministers, the two parties decided to continue with their negotiations on the outstanding issues immediately after the conclusion of the session."
The annual OAU meeting opens in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday and is scheduled to end Friday. No date was fixed for the resumption of the talks in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha.
The talks came close to collapsing early last week after fresh fighting between rebels forces and government troops.
The RPF, which draws support from the minority Tutsi tribe, said it renewed hostilities because the ethnic Hutu supporters of President Juvenal Habyarimana allegedly massacred some 300 Tutsis last month.
Earlier Sunday in Paris, Habyarimana and Prime Minister Dismas Nsengiyaremye in a joint statement called for an "immediate resumption" of the peace talks.
The statement issued by the Rwandan embassy in France also condemned RPF's alleged violation of an August ceasefire agreement.
The RPF began its insurrection against Habyarimana, a majority Hutu general who has ruled the central African country for nearly 20 years, in October 1990.
hb/jnm/gk AFP AFP SEQN-0253
