Darfur talks on brink of collapse as rebels say no
Observers say failure to reach an agreement would be disastrous for the people of Darfur, who have suffered through three years of a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven more than 2 million from their homes.
One faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the main Darfur rebel group, and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), rejected a peace settlement drafted by African Union (AU) mediators and amended by Western diplomats.
But the other faction of the SLA, considered the most powerful, was still undecided after the marathon talks and said it would meet mediators again at 0800 GMT.
Three deadlines for a deal have passed since Sunday despite intensive efforts by international diplomats led by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.
The SLA and the JEM took up arms in early 2003 in ethnically mixed Darfur, a region the size of France, over what they saw as neglect by the Arab-dominated central government.
Khartoum used militias known as the Janjaweed, drawn from Arab tribes, to crush the rebellion. A campaign of arson, looting and rape has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur and the United States labels the violence there "genocide".
"We said that unless fundamental changes are made to this document, it's extremely difficult for us to sign it," JEM chief negotiator Ahmed Tugod told Reuters after emerging from a meeting with heads of state and diplomats.
The SLA faction led by Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur took a similar position after its own meeting with a mediation team that included Zoellick, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and British International Development Secretary Hilary Benn.
The AU had earlier made clear it would not re-open substantive negotiations on the text, which is the result of two years of painstaking talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja and of a massive international push for peace in the past few days. --------------------------- Last hope
Mediators placed their last hope for a deal in Minni Arcua Minnawi, the leader of the larger faction of the SLA.
"We are going to meet Minni again in a few hours. He said he would do his best to bring the others on board," said AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni as the all-night talks broke up.
Observers say Minnawi has more support among SLA fighters than Nur, and they say JEM is marginal in terms of forces on the ground. But it is unclear how useful an agreement signed by only one of the three factions would be.
Tugod said the JEM rejected the AU draft because it did not meet a series of key rebel demands.
These are a Darfur regional government, a post of Sudanese vice president, greater representation in national institutions, compensation for victims of the war and the allocation of 6.5 percent of Sudan's national income to a Darfur development fund.
Most of these demands have been known for months and mediators have long said they could not be met in full.
After the all-night talks at the Nigerian presidential villa ended, Zoellick berated the rebel leaders for rejecting the deal even though he and other diplomats extracted extra concessions for the rebels over the past two days.
"These (concessions) are all the opportunities, but it requires leadership on the part of the (rebel) movements and frankly that's in question," Zoellick told reporters at the end of the session.
The Sudanese government had said it would accept the original AU draft, but the U.S.-led diplomatic push aimed to persuade Khartoum to give a little extra ground in the hope this would bring the rebels round.
The U.S. initiative focused on a trade-off of concessions on two key points. Provisions for the rebels to join the Sudanese army would be strengthened and in exchange requirements on disarming the Janjaweed would be amended in a way that suited the government better.
The rebels are split into two movements and three factions with complex internal politics and a history of infighting. This has hampered the entire peace process.
While peace talks dragged on in Abuja, violence escalated in Darfur to the point that aid workers cannot reach tens of thousands of displaced people. They say a deal is vital before the rainy season begins in June when planting of food crops must be completed.