Nairobi/Bujumbura - Burundi's government on Monday signed an unconditional ceasefire with the last rebel group active in the country, raising hopes that earlier agreements to end a long and bloody conflict would finally be honoured.

The government and the National Liberation Force (FNL) - the armed wing of the Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People (PALIPEHUTU) - agreed to end all fighting by mid-afternoon, the BBC reported.

Earlier ceasefire agreements with the FNL, the latest coming in 2006, failed to bring an end to the 15-year conflict between the majority Hutus and Tutsi minority that has killed over 300,000 people.

Conflict erupted between rival Hutu and Tutsi factions in 1993 after Burundi's first democratically-elected president Melchior Ndadaye was assassinated during a coup attempt by the Tutsi-dominated army after only a few months in office.

The latest deal came after ten days of talks and several months of renewed clashes that saw over 100 killed and many thousands displaced. (dpa)