Related: EU welcomes signing of Darfur peace pact
         Khartoum to sign peace deal with one Darfur rebel faction
          World's inaction on Darfur would worsen humanitarian efforts: UN 

Stakeholders in the Darfur crisis watch as Mazjoud el-Khalifa for SDudanese government and Minni Minawi for his faction of the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) sign the African Union draft peace agreement in Darfur's bloody civil war in Abuja 05 May 2006. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    ABUJA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government and a major rebel movement in Darfur signed a peace agreement here Friday, marking a notable progress in an international effort to end years of bloodshed in western Sudan.

    The agreement, which was reached after two years of hard talks between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) under the mediation of the African Union (AU), appeals for the disbandment of rebel forces and the disarmament of the government-backed "janjaweed" militia.

    At the signing ceremony held at the State House in the Nigerian capital Abuja, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo spoke highly of SLM leader Minnie Minnawi, saying that he was "not just a military commander but also a political leader."

    The signing ceremony was delayed for three hours, as mediators tried to persuade the smaller faction of the SLM to sign up to the deal.

    However, SLM spokesman Seif Eldin Haruon said the group still has concerns over whether the Sudanese government is ready to share power.

    "We just need some few hours a week so we can sit down and talk to our colleagues from the other parties, and I believe we will go forward," he said.

    The smallest rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)called for fundamental changes to the document. Its chief negotiator reiterated the rebels' demands for the post of vice-president in the Khartoum government and for Darfur to have a greater share of national wealth.

    The 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