Rebels from Sudan's Darfur region have rejected calls to disarm or confine their fighters to their bases before a political solution to the conflict there has been decided and implemented.
At African Union-mediated peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja to end 18 months of revolt in remote Darfur, Sudan's government agreed to enlarge an AU force in the area to help confine rebels to their bases while Sudanese forces disarm Arab militias known as Janjaweed.
Sudan has already agreed to about 300 AU forces in Darfur to protect more than 100 observers of a shaky April ceasefire.
But rebels said they would not disarm until after a political solution, including devolution of power and wealth-sharing, is agreed and implemented in Sudan's arid west.
"This is impossible. No rebel movement can accept to disarm before a political settlement," said Mr Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, secretary-general of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), speaking by telephone from Darfur.
"And we must be clear, not just after political agreement but after it is achieved - whether it be one year, however long it takes," Mr Garda said.
The Nigerian talks are aimed at ending fighting that has killed up to 50,000 people and driven over a million from their homes, creating what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The UN Security Council has set an August 30th deadline for the government to improve security for refugees and disarm Janjaweed militias or face sanctions.
Rebels say the government has armed the Janjaweed to loot and burn African villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur, an accusation denied by Khartoum.