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DAR ES SALAAM, July 22 (AFP) - Tanzania has dismissed a call by Burundi for international observers to be posted along their border to monitor alleged incursions of rebels from Tanzanian bases, saying it does not harbour any.

"Tanzania does not harbour any armed rebels because the country had no motivation for doing so," Tanzanian Defence Minister Philemon Sarungi said on Monday.

"This is mere fabrication. We have always been telling the world and Burundi that we have never and will never support rebels," Sarungi told Nampa-AFP by telephone from Dodoma, in reaction to a Burundi government proposal.

Burundi Defense Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye told journalists in Bujumbura on Saturday that "It is now time to ask for an international observer force on the border between Burundi and Tanzania."

"Today, we've decided that enough is enough," he said, adding that such a force was "the only solution to the disagreements between our two countries."

Tanzania is home to more than 400,000 refugees from Burundi's decade-long civil war, and Bujumbura has frequently accused Dar es Salaam of aiding Hutu rebels in crossing the border to carry out attacks -- a charge Tanzania has repeatedly denied.

"In thinking that they're helping Burundi's rebellion, Tanzania must know that it is supporting negative forces in the region," he said, adding that the rebels "are not ready to sign a ceasefire" and are seeking "to commit a genocide in Burundi, after the one in Rwanda."

But Sarungi retorted: "I am surprised at fresh accusations that began on the eve of ceasefire negotiations in the Tanzanian capital last Thursday between the Burundi government and one of the main Hutu armed rebel group, the National Committee for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD).

The talks failed to start after CNDD-FDD asked for more time to prepare themselves materially and psychologically, saying that they had a "very" short notice for the meeting.

More than 250,000 people have been killed in Burundi since 1993 in the war pitting several armed groups drawn from the large Hutu majority against an army dominated by the Tutsi minority.

Sarungi said Burundi and Tanzania had already worked out a mechanism to check any rebel movements on the frontier and the commanders of both sides frequently met to ensure that calm prevailed along it.

"But let them (Burundi) point out where the rebels are along the border, so that we can work together to prevent them," Sarundi said.

"I am ready to meet my counterpart (Ndayirukiye) anytime to resolve the issue," he added. - Nampa-AFP

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