Darfur rebels reject peace as deadline looms

KHARTOUM, May 31 (Reuters) Talks intensified today to convince two Darfur rebel factions to sign a peace deal to end a three-year-old conflict in Sudan's violent west where tens of thousands have been killed.

A May 5 deal was signed by only one rebel faction, Minni Arcua Minnawi of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), and African Union mediators gave two other factions until today to sign or face possible U N sanctions.

''The day will end at midnight so we still have time and we still wish to see others joining the peace process,'' said Noureddine Mezni, AU spokesman in Khartoum.

Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur, the other SLA faction leader, is in the Kenyan capital Nairobi but yesterday his faction said he would not sign unless changes or additions were made, which both the AU and the Sudan government reject.

And the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) is being prodded by the Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek in Ljubljana. JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim also says he wants radical changes before signing.

The two factions say they want more political posts, better compensation for the victims of the conflict and a say in disarming the government-armed Arab militia, who are responsible for much of the violence on the ground.

While Minnawi's faction has the most firepower in Darfur, Nur is from the region's largest Fur tribe, and analysts fear he may cause a split on ethnic lines if he does not sign up.

Mezni said the AU Peace and Security Council would decide what action, if any, to take against those who did not sign. The council will meet in the coming days although no date has been set.

More than two million, mostly non-Arab, Darfuris having fled their homes to miserable camps, which have become tinderboxes of violence as thousands demonstrate daily against the deal.

The Sudanese Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) said police had opened fire on Darfuris in the Otash camp in South Darfur on Monday, killing one and wounding three. In nearby Kalma, police beat and arrested dozens of demonstrators.

''SOAT strongly condemns the excessive use of force by the government security forces and calls on the government to acknowledge the major causes of this demonstration and to respond accordingly through raising awareness of the provisions contained in the (deal),'' it said in a statement today.

The cash-strapped AU itself has come under attack from those in the camps, frustrated at the 7,00-strong force's inability to protect them from continued rape, looting and killing.

But the AU has a hard time defending itself. Last week a patrol was attacked, killing and wounding one soldier, and later unknown armed men attacked an AU base in Masteri in south-west Darfur, injuring five soldiers.

REUTERS SRS BST1327