Congo president Laurent Kabila has refused to meet rebels who control a quarter of his vast mineral-rich Central African country.

The rebels, not included at two previous summits over the past month, were to arrive later today for talks with Kabila, and the presidents of Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Congolese military official Francois Olenga said Kabila's delegation will resist attempts to persuade them to meet rebels at this northwest Zimbabwe resort. ``They are not rebels. They are invaders,'' he said.

Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia have sent troops to Congo to support Kabila, who has accused Uganda and Rwanda of sending troops to back the rebels.

Before the presidents began talks around noon, officials held numerous meetings to devise a method that would allow all the warring factions to discuss terms of acease-fire and withdrawal of all foreign troops.

They also discussed the establishment of an African peace-keeping force.

Such a force would enable foreign troops currently in the conflict to withdraw, officials said.

``This summit will bring a solution to the conflict,'' a confident Angolan president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos said, when he arrived at the summit site this morning.

Zambian president Frederick Chiluba, the neutral chairman of the summit called by president Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, might have to shuttle between the two sides in an effort to forge an agreement.

Zimbabwean officials said the rebel delegation will be led by Arthur Zahaidi Ngoma and will include former Congolese foreign minister Bizima Karaha.

Salim Ahmed Salim, secretary-general of the organization of African unity, said the aim of the talks was to reach a cease-fire agreement that would not only insure the continuation of Kabila's government but also bring about democratic reforms.

Kabila has been trying to suppressa rebel insurrection since late July. When the rebels were marching on Kinshasa, the capital, troops from Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia intervened on behalf of Kabila.

Kabila contends the rebels are sponsored by Rwanda and Uganda, a charge the two countries deny, and has said he will not agree to a cease-fire until all Rwandan and Ugandan troops withdraw from Congo.

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni said a crucial part of the discussion would be democratic reform in Congo. Hopes for free elections rose when Kabila last year overthrew dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, ending three decades of tyrannical rule.

Kabila has promised free elections, but has also arrested opposition activists and stirred up ethnic enmities.

In a behind-the-scene discussion at last week's Non-Aligned Movement summit in Durban, regional leaders reportedly agreed in principle to withdraw troops to the border regions, where they can monitor security, according to media reports in South Africa.

Rwanda, Uganda, and Angola claim thatCongo harbours opponents to their respective governments, and stationing their troops at the borders would help keep such forces out, The Sunday Times of Johannesburg reported.

Officials say Kabila, as part of any agreement for a cease-fire, also demands that the summit devise a method of registering rebels and ways of ascertaining their nationality to make sure they are Congolese.