Sudan rebuffs Darfur rebel's conditions for peace

ABUJA, May 15 (Reuters) The Sudanese government has rebuffed an overture from a Darfur rebel leader, preventing him from joining a peace agreement today's deadline despite intense pressure to sign, an adviser to the rebel chief said.

However, Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) wants to keep trying to make a deal with Khartoum and talks look set to continue beyond the deadline because diplomats are desperate to gain wider support for the peace accord.

Nur rejected the peace settlement signed on May 5 by the Sudanese government and rival SLA factional leader Minni Arcua Minnawi to end a conflict that has killed tens of thousands.

News of the accord sparked violence in Darfur, where many feel it lacks legitimacy because only one rebel faction signed. The international community fears the agreement, the result of close to two years of painstaking talks, will not stop the war.

''We received a response from the Sudanese government and it was not positive enough for us to go ahead and sign,'' said Ibrahim Madibo, a close adviser to Nur who is still in the Nigerian capital Abuja, where the peace talks took place.

Nur wanted the government to meet his key demands in an annex accord, after which he would sign the broader peace deal.

''They (the government) do not approve the memorandum of understanding because they say the peace agreement is final,'' Madibo told Reuters.

Nur's demands include greater compensation from Khartoum to Darfur war victims, more political posts for the SLA and greater SLA involvement in the security of internal refugees returning home and in the disarmament of pro-government militias.

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