Burundi's defence minister has accused neighbouring Tanzania of aiding anti-government rebels in their offensive.

The claims came as Burundi's Tutsi-led army said it had killed 45 ethnic Hutu rebels in the south of the country this week.

Tanzania is due to host a peace conference this week of rebel groups from the majority Hutu population of Burundi.

Burundi conflict

Population: 6 million (1997) Hutu (85%) Tutsi (14%) Twa (1%) 200,000 killed since 1993 President: Pierre Buyoya (Tutsi) since 1996 coup Buyoya due to hand over to Hutu next year

The rebels oppose the government of Burundi's President Pierre Buyoya, an ethnic Tutsi soldier who came to power in a 1996 coup.

But Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye has accused the Tanzanians of hypocrisy over the meeting.

He said: "It is a serious contradiction to see the country that was pretending to bring the rebels to the table... to see the rebels organising themselves in this country in broad daylight."

Tanzania - where hundreds of thousands of Burundian refugees have fled the civil war - has denied previous such accusations by Burundi.

About 200,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the past nine years of fighting in Burundi.

Last November a transitional government was set up - with Tutsis and Hutus sharing power - after a deal brokered by Nelson Mandela.

President Buyoya is due to cede the presidency to a Hutu after 18 months.

The minority Tutsis are fearful of allowing the Hutus to take power

But the civil war has continued because the main Hutu rebel groups have refused a ceasefire.

Tanzania will have an uphill struggle to bring the two main rebel groups to agree a ceasefire.

The National Liberation Forces (FNL) has become more fanatical following defeats in its stronghold around the capital, Bujumbura, since the beginning of the year.

The other main group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), has also been stepping up its attacks.