One rebel group in Sudan's troubled Darfur region Thursday pledged to fully respect a truce with the Sudanese government amid contradictory statements and international concern about an escalation in fighting.  

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), one of the two main rebel groups, is committed to fully respecting the truce and all the agreements, SLM leader Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur said in Cairo.

The SLM is ready to guarantee the security to continue working in Darfur, Mohammed al-Nur added.

The Sudanese government and the SLM and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the two Darfur rebel groups, reached a cease-fire agreement last year to end hostilities in the 21-month-old conflict. However, the two sides have accused each other of frequently violating the cease-fire agreement.

Violence flared up in February 2003 between Janjaweed militia and local farmers in Sudan's barren Darfur region over scarce water and other natural resources. So far, thousands of people have been killed and about one million refugees have been displaced or fled to neighboring Chad.