AU says Darfur rebels have until end May to sign peace

ADDIS ABABA, May 15 (Reuters) The African Union today said two rebel factions from Sudan's Darfur region would have an extra two weeks until the end of May to sign a peace agreement they have so far failed to endorse.

''The extension of the signature for those who didn't sign the agreement will be laid open until the end of May, after which, failure to sign will indicate non-commitment to the peace process and the AU will take a decision,'' said Olu Adeniji, chairman of the AU Peace and Security Council.

Only one of the three Darfur rebel factions signed a May 5 accord with Khartoum to end fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people.

The two holdouts -- the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) -- had been under pressure to sign up to the accord by today's AU meeting in Addis Ababa.

Adeniji, who is Nigeria's foreign minister, also said the AU council reaffirmed today its commitment to hand over an AU peacekeeping force in Darfur to a UN-led operation, but he did not give a timetable.

Sudan has no objections in principle but just wants to discuss the ''modalities'' of the handover, he added of Khartoum's perceived reluctance to receive UN peacekeepers in Darfur.

REUTERS PG PM0100