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ARUSHA, Tanzania, Sept 17 (AFP) - Wide differences on the powers of the presidency in a proposed interim government kept Rwandan peace talks deadlocked here on Thursday, a Tanzanian foreign ministry official said.
The negotiations between the Rwandan government and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) had been due to end Wednesday, but stalled Tuesday on whether the small highland nation should have a ministerial council headed by an executive president or a seven-man presidential council with executive powers, the official said.
"I can't say certainly whether they will come to agreement on Thursday or not, but the RPF seems to be reluctantly giving ground to the proposal of ministerial government," Ami Mpungwe, Tanzania's foreign ministry director for Africa and the Middle East, told AFP before going into a new session.
"But the negotiations are still tough," he added.
With Tanzanian Foreign Minister Ahmed Hassan Diria mediating, the two sides have tentatively agreed to form an interim government of national unity and other power-sharing institutions that will lead the central African state towards democratic rule.
After 10 days of talks on the mechanism of power-sharing, they were thought likely to come up with a communique later Thursday, instead of a protocol of understanding, which was expected if they failed to agree on powers of the presidency.
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