The exclusion of a breakaway Hutu opposition alliance called the National Council for the Defence of Democracy and the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) has been considered a reason for the failure of talks so far.

BBC: New peace talks for Burundi

Militant movements the National Council for the Defence of Democracy, Palipehutu and Frolina have organised themselves in Congo and Tanzania, from where they carry out raids.

ECONOMIST: The Hutu-Tutsi divide

David Pettit, a lawyer at the National Resources Defence Council and one of those environmentalists who so frustrate Mr Baker, says that he fully understands the threat posed by the canal.

ECONOMIST: Fears that a new and improved Panama Canal will divert trade

And though DfID will survive as a separate department, it will be bound more closely to the FCO and the Ministry of Defence by a proposed national security council.

ECONOMIST: Foreign aid in a recession

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reports that the Information Commission is investigating seven government departments: Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources, National Defence, the Treasury Board Secretariat, National Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

BBC: Has Canada's government been muzzling its scientists?

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reports that Canada's Information Commission is investigating seven government departments: Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources, National Defence, the Treasury Board Secretariat, National Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

BBC: Has Canada's government been muzzling its scientists?

Alongside the National Security Council discussions there have been separate talks within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) itself, involving the heads of the three armed services - the Royal Navy, the Army and the RAF.

BBC: Q&A: Strategic defence and security review