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KAMPALA, March 9 (AFP) - Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana said Monday there was still a chance for the peace process to succeed in his country despite threats by the opposition Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) to resume war.
Addressing a news conference in Kampala at the end of a one-day official visit, the Rwandan leader said he was not entirely to blame for the faltering negotiations.
"The problem partly lies with the opposition parties which failed to organise themselves. Some of them are unable to field candidates for inclusion in the interim government", said Habyarimana, whose central African nation has been torn by ethnic fighting since Uganda-based Tutsi refugees invaded their homeland in 1990 to force political reforms.
A joint communique signed by Habyarimana and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said the two presidents would work together to ensure an orderly return home of Rwandan refugees in Uganda.
It is officially estimated that there are an estimated 260,000 Rwandan refugees in Uganda.
The communique said that a technical committee would be established to expedite the process of orderly return of the refugees.
In the past week, war alarms have been sounded by RPF rebels after the failure of Habyarimana to swear in an interim government in accordance with the terms of the agreement reached in Arusha, Tanzania, in August last year.
The president said the swearing in of the new government could not take place last month following the eruption of political violence in which the country's public affairs minister Felicien Gatabazi was killed and allegations by the opposition that there were plans to assassinate their leaders, charges the government has denied.
Habyarimana has aften blamed Museveni of supporting the RPF rebels, accusations denied by the Ugandan leader.
In recent weeks Rwandan refugees in Uganda have been returning home in large numbers, but the Rwanda government wants an orderly return of the refugees, most of whom are considered supporters of the RPF.
The influx of returning refugees is seen by Kigali as favouring the rebels who are likely to use the returnees to beef up their fighting army should fighting break out again.
Habyarimana, who was flanked by his defence minister Augustine Bizimana, denied allegations that he has been intimidating the opposition.
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