Talks to end Africa's biggest conflict ended in failure today after the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the largest rebel group failed to resolve their differences, officials said.
"We have ended in failure. We have failed to resolve at this meeting the differences that exist. We may have to come back at a future stage, but today has been a failure," Mr Mutombo Kabundji, spokesman for Congo's leading opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi told reporters by telephone from Sun City.
Other delegates told reporters an agreement had been reached to reconvene on an unspecified date and at an unspecified venue in a much smaller group than the 368-strong gathering in Sun City to address their differences.
The deal collapsed over differences over the role of President Mr Jospeph Kabila in a transitional government ahead of democratic elections and the role of rebel groups in a future government.
The war erupted in 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda invaded the Congo to support mutinous soldiers. Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe sent troops to bolster weak government troops.