LAGOS, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Tuesday extended the deadline by 48 hours for a second time for reaching agreement in talks aimed at ending a three-year-long civil conflict in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur, mediators said.

    Nigerian President and AU Chairman Olusegun Obasanjo requested the extension of the deadline so that a group of African leaders, who were due in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Wednesday for a health conference, could participate, AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni said.

    The AU had already extended the original deadline, midnight on April 30, by 48 hours after the rebels rejected the draft settlement.

    The Sudanese government had accepted the draft settlement, but three Darfur rebel factions refused to sign, saying they were unhappy with the proposals on security, power-sharing and wealth-sharing.

    The rebels insisted that some of their demands, such as a vice president's post and a regional government, be met in full. But mediators said some rebels had seemed more open to comprises in private meetings.

    U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who arrived in Abujia earlier on Tuesday to help the AU team find a solution to the remaining issues on Darfur, said he would continue negotiations on Wednesday.

    Observers warned that failure to strike a deal would be disastrous, particularly to those displaced people who would not be able to return to their homes to cultivate their lands.

    Rebel groups took up arms in Sudan's arid Darfur region in February 2003, accusing the government of negligence. Many people have been killed in the conflict and more displaced. Enditem