The camp will be opened up in northwest Burundi even as fighting rages on between the Tutsi-dominated army and the main Hutu rebel group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), in violation of a December ceasefire.

"The first demobilisation camp will be set up in Muange in June 2003 and will be supervised by South Africa," the AU statement said.

The African Force (AF) has been mandated by the African Union to monitor a ceasefire signed last year between the government and three of the country's four Hutu rebel movements, aimed at ending the 10-year civil war.

More than 900 South African soldiers have been deployed in Burundi, the first of a 2,800-strong force that will will include troops from Ethiopia and Mozambique.

The AF has been tasked with overseeing the demobilisation of rebel fighters and their integration into Burundi's armed forces. The operation will begin by targeting two minor Hutu rebel groups, who agreed to the ceasefire.

"We cannot give a precise date for the start of the demobilisation operation, but we will be ready by June to receive rebel fighters who wish to integrate these zones," said an AF officer, who did not wish to be identified. "Nobody will be forced to come into these zones, we will be open and ready to welcome the fighters who come to us," he said.

More than 300,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in Burundi since the civil war erupted in 1993 with the assassination of the first democratically elected Hutu president Melchior Ndadaye.

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