BUJUMBURA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Burundi's FNL rebel group is refusing to join a ceasefire monitoring team until one of its members is freed from a Burundian jail, a South African peace mediator said on Wednesday. In what could be another stumbling block towards peace, the rebel Forces for National Liberation (FNL) refused to attend an inaugural meeting of the joint verification and monitoring team in the Burundian capital Bujumbura. "The FNL members are not present here because they said they cannot join unless Jean Berchmans Ndayashimiye is released," said Charles Nqakula, the South African mediator who brokered a ceasefire signed on Sept. 7. The team is meant to include representatives from Burundi's government, the FNL, the African Union and the United Nations, and is chaired by South Africa. The FNL, a Hutu rebel group, was the last holdout from Burundi's 12-year civil war. The ceasefire, years in the making, was hailed as helping to remove the FNL's persistent insurgency -- seen as a final barrier to lasting peace in a country of 7 million that suffered years of ethnic violence in a battle for political supremacy. But it has been overshadowed by a steadily darkening political climate under President Pierre Nkurunziza's government, accused by watchdogs -- and senior ruling party official -- of corruption and a crackdown on the opposition.
