PRETORIA, June 8, 2008 (AFP) - Burundi's top rebel leader and the government's chief negotiator pledged to work to end 15 years of civil war as they arrived in South Africa Sunday for talks on the country's peace process.

Representatives from the United Nations, African Union and European Union will participate in the two-day meeting as the two sides seek to put a definitive end to the small central African country's conflict.

The ambassadors to Bujumbura of France, Norway, Tanzania, Uganda and the United States were to participate as well.

Rebel chief Agathon Rwasa read a joint declaration on arrival, saying 'we have decided to end hostilities, as we are aware that the people of Burundi have, for too long, suffered from them...

'We have also come, united, to ask the international community to continue lending its assistance so that we can move forward together on the path of peace for the benefit of all Burundians.'

The meeting with Rwasa, who heads Burundi's last rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), and government chief negotiator Evariste Ndayishimye will be held at a resort in the Magaliesberg hills west of here.

Rwasa warned before leaving for South Africa Sunday that his fighters would only regroup with the regular army as part of the peace process if a political and military agreement is struck with the government.

'We need to know about our party's and fighters' future beforehand,' he said.

The rebel leader returned from exile on May 30, four days after his group inked a truce with the government, raising hopes of an end to the war.

The government accused the FNL on Saturday of still massively recruiting fighters in defiance of a 2006 ceasefire accord.

But Rwasa rejected this on Sunday as 'absolutely wrong', accusing the government of arbitrary arrests.

Diplomats in Bujumbura said South African President Thabo Mbeki would meet with Rwasa during his visit and possibly organise a meeting between the rebel and Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza, who is already in South Africa.

Rwasa's return from Tanzania last month marked a new step in moves to definitively end the civil war that has plagued the impoverished central African nation since 1993, leaving at least 300,000 people dead.