"We are committed to the restoration of lasting peace in Burundi in line with the December 3 agreement signed in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha," National Council for the Defence and Democracy-Forces for Defence and Democracy (CNDD-FDD) chairman Pierre Nkurunziza said.

"But we must agree on various issues like military reforms and a new constitution," Nkurunziza told a news conference here.

The CNDD-FDD delegation arrived in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday to discuss with Tanzanian facilitators how to continue the ongoing peace process, including the deployment of the African Union Mission in Burundi (AMIB).

Nkurunziza maintained that his faction was serious with the implementation of the December 3 agreement and another pact signed in the South African capital, Pretoria, in January on a cessation of hostilities.

He, however, accused the Burundi army of violating the accords, but the government denied this and instead accused the CNDD-FDD movement of engaging in foul play.

Nkurunziza said his faction was only fighting in defence after being provoked by the Burundi army.

"Whenever these people (Burundi army) get an opportunity, they attack us. We cannot just look at them since we have the right to defend ourselves," he said, dismissing as false claims that the CNDD-FDD rebels were frustrating the peace process.

He charged that in April the Burundi army had blocked food and medical supplies donated by the European Union to the rebels, a move that violated the ceasefire agreement.

Nkurunziza said the CNDD-FDD had little to do with the Burundi Peace and Reconciliation accord, signed in Arusha on August 2000, describing it as a deal reached by some personalities and groups interested in political positions.

"CNDD-FDD is having quite a different mission beyond jockeying for positions in the current transition government," he said.

The civil war in the landlocked central African nation was triggered by the assassination of the first Hutu democratically elected president Melchior Ndadaye in October 1993 and has since killed an estimated 300,000 people, most of them civilians, including women, children and the elderly.

WAR.WIRE