Citation
KAMPALA, May 24 (AFP) - Rwanda's foreign minister Boniface Ngulinzira met here on Sunday with a representative of the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in a new attempt to end the Rwandan conflict.
Rwandan ambassador to Uganda Claver Kanyarushoke told AFP by telephone that Ngulinzira held extensive talks with the rebel commissioner for diplomatic and foreign affairs Mazi Mpaka in Kampala on Sunday morning, before returning to Kigali at the end of a two-day official visit to Uganda.
"The minister had to postpone his departure on Saturday in order to meet the rebel representative," Kanyarushoke said.
This is the first direct high-level contact between the Rwandan government and the rebels since a new government was named in Kigali last month.
The Rwandese envoy said the talks were centred on future negotiations and a tentative timetable was agreed on.
Kanyarushoke said that a meeting between the two will be held within the next 15 days "probably somewhere in Europe", but no venue was agreed on.
On Saturday, the Rwandan foreign minister handed over to President Yoweri Museveni a special message from President Juvenal Habyarimana, which diplomats here said had contained a request to the Ugandan leader to play a leading role in bringing a negotiated settlement to the Rwandese conflict.
more
AFP AFP
SEQN-0137
