A Darfur rebel leader on Tuesday rejected an African Union threat of international sanctions if he did not sign a peace deal by May 31 to end fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people in Sudan's western region.

 

The AU, in a communiqué issued after a meeting in Addis Ababa late on Monday, extended by two weeks a deadline for two holdout rebel groups to endorse the deal, but stepped up the pressure by threatening sanctions if they did not sign.

 

It was the latest and toughest move by the AU to push a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur, and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) into endorsing the May 5 peace deal.

 

The Khartoum government and a bigger faction of the SLA signed the agreement in the Nigerian capital Abuja but African officials and diplomats fear the two holdouts will scupper it by inciting violence in Darfur.

 

The SLA and the JEM launched a revolt in early 2003 accusing the Arab-dominated central government of neglecting Darfur, an arid, ethnically mixed region the size of France.

 

Khartoum enlisted Arab Janjaweed militias to crush the insurgency. The ensuing campaign of murder, rape and looting has driven more than 2 million people from their homes in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

 

Nur on Tuesday repeated his demand that Khartoum make concessions in an annex accord, after which he would sign the broader peace deal.

 

Among his conditions are more compensation from Khartoum for Darfur war victims, more political posts for his movement and greater SLA involvement in the disarmament of the Janjaweed.

 

"I urge the AU, instead of threatening us, to cooperate with us in order to add a supplementary document to the peace accord which is the only way to reach a comprehensive peace agreement," Nur said in Abuja.

 

The AU Peace and Security Council said in a communiqué on Monday night: "Failing (a signing) it shall consider measures, including sanctions, to be applied against the leadership and members of the concerned groups."

 

The AU said it would push for a United Nations travel ban and asset freeze against any individual or group that violated the ceasefire agreement or blocked the enforcement of the deal.

 

Nur dismissed the threats. "My belief is that sanctions are for those who commit crimes. We are not criminals, we are freedom fighters," he said.

 

"We agree with them that anyone who violates the ceasefire should be sanctioned, except when it is in self-defense."

 

The agreement has already provoked violent protests by Sudanese refugees who say it is not enough to protect them, and criticism from the Sudanese opposition that the two sides were pressured into signing an ill-considered deal.

 

Although Nur has less military clout than Minni Arcua Minnawi, leader of the rival SLA group that has signed the deal, his endorsement is seen as crucial because he represents Darfur's largest Fur tribe.

 

The other holdout, the JEM, is not considered so important because it has few fighters and its constituency is small.

 

(Chinadaily.com.cn via agencies, May 17, 2006)