A rebel leader from Sudan's Darfur region has rebuffed the latest proposals from African Union (AU) mediators for him to join a peace deal despite intense pressure by diplomats desperate to gain wider support for the accord.
Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) refused the peace settlement signed on May 5th by the Sudanese government and rival SLA factional leader Minni Arcua Minnawi to end a conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
The rejection of the accord by Nur and by smaller rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) raised fears it would not end the war. The agreement was greeted with violent demonstrations in several Darfur refugee camps.
The SLA and the JEM took up arms in early 2003 accusing the Arab-dominated central government of neglecting Darfur, an arid region the size of France in western Sudan.
Khartoum backed militias known as Janjaweed, drawn from Arab tribes, to crush the rebellion. The ensuing campaign of murder, looting, rape and arson has driven more than two million from their homes into refugee camps in Darfur and neighbouring Chad.
Nur says he will sign the peace deal, but only if first the government accepts some of his key demands in an annex accord.
The demands include greater compensation from Khartoum for Darfur war victims and greater SLA involvement in monitoring the disarmament of the Janjaweed and the return home of refugees.
This looks unlikely to happen before a meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council in Ethiopia tomorrow that is considered a deadline to add new signatures to the deal.