By Paul Hughes

LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - President Jakaya Kikwete hailed the start on Wednesday of political reconciliation talks in the volatile Zanzibar islands where vote-rigging charges have sullied Tanzania's reputation as a model of stability in Africa.

In an interview during a visit to London, Kikwete also said his country was studying a request to send troops to Somalia and was on alert for possible infiltration by defeated Islamist fighters fleeing from there.

Describing Zanzibar as the east African nation's "Achilles heel", Kikwete said efforts had paid off to start talks with an opposition that accuses his party of stealing the last three elections on the mainly Muslim islands of 1 million people.

"It took me some time, but I'm glad to tell you that today our two parties in Zanzibar are going to start the discussions," he said.

Wednesday's meeting between the secretaries general of Kikwete's Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, or Party of the Revolution) and the main opposition Civic United Front (CUF), were to agree on a framework and timetable for full reconciliation talks.

CUF said its candidate was robbed by widespread irregularities in the November 2005 vote which came a month before Kikwete's own landslide win in national polls.

Deep rivalries between the two parties have frequently spilled over into violence, tarnishing Tanzania's image as a haven of tranquillity in a turbulent region.

"My belief is that there is nothing on which we differ that cannot be resolved through discussions," Kikwete said.

"HEIGHTENED VIGILANCE"

Tanzania's increasing prominence on the world stage was recently confirmed by the appointment of Kikwete's Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro as deputy secretary-general at the United Nations.

"The last two years we've been part of the Security Council ... so maybe those who have been watching us have appreciated the role that we played during that time," Kikwete said.

"Our promise is to continue to be proactive in the international arena."

Somalia, where government troops backed by Ethiopian air power and armour drove Islamists from Mogadishu in December, was the "most critical issue" in Africa at the moment, he said, and Tanzania was keen to help, possibly by sending troops.

"This is the immediate issue for us in the region -- how to assist the transitional government to get a grip of the country, how to assist the transitional government to perform its functions as a state," he said.

Kikwete said he was waiting to hear from his military chiefs on the possibility of sending troops to Somalia either as peacekeepers or to train Somalia's own forces.

He said a major concern for Tanzania and others in the region was the risk that fleeing Islamists may head their way.

U.S. officials say they used an air strike in Somalia earlier this month to target al Qaeda members behind the 1998 attacks on two U.S. embassies, one in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam.

"It is again a matter of concern for us and certainly it calls for heightened vigilance so that they don't spill over to some of our nations to relocate and then continue with their sinister activities," Kikwete said.

AlertNet news is provided by

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit                                                                                  Permalink