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KIGALI, Oct 16 (AFP) - Rwanda's three main opposition parties said here Wednesday they would refuse to join a transitional government due to be set up by new Prime Minister Sylvestre Nsanzimana.
The leaders of the Republican Democratic Movement, the Social Democrats and the Liberal Party told a press conference they objected to the fact that President Juvenal Habyarimana had named Nsanzimana at the weekend without consulting them.
They repeated their seven conditions for joining government set out in a joint letter to Habyarimana a week ago.
In addition to insisting that political parties have a say in the choice of premier, they want peace talks opened with the guerrilla Patriotic Front which invaded from Uganda a year ago and the convening of a national conference on the country's future within six months.
The opposition parties also hold that no single party can hold both the presidency and the premiership, nor the defence and interior portfolios.
On Monday, Major-General Habyarimana said negotiations with the rebels would be the first task of the new government. Other chief targets for the interim administration would be to prepare for fair general elections, the organised return of refugees, and launch of an economic structural adjustment programme.
mgu/jaw/ma AFP AFP SEQN-0254
