ADDIS ABABA (REUTERS) - South Sudanese rebels will begin face-to-face talks with the government, aimed at ending weeks of ethnic bloodletting, at 1200 GMT on Sunday after several days of delay, an Ethiopian official said on Saturday.

"We are starting the direct talks at 3 pm (1200 GMT) tomorrow," Mr Dina Mufti, spokesman for Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry, told Reuters.

Ethiopia is leading the regional mediation between the two warring sides.