The deadline for the Darfur’s remaining rebel groups to sign up to the proposed peace agreement has passed. Initial reports from international agencies state that the two outstanding rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement and a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, have rejected the deal.

|PIC1|Mediators from the African Union have been urging the rebel groups to follow others that had already signed the deal three weeks ago, but the deadline at 2100 GMT passed on Wednesday with no success.

The two groups have refused to sign the agreement, and have demanded that alternations are made.

The deal was the biggest hope the country has had so far to end the 3-year civil war, in which more than 200,000 people have died. In addition, more than 2 million people have been displaced away from their homes, making aid agencies label the situation in Darfur as the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis”.

The Sudan Liberation Army, the largest rebel group in the region, are the only ones to sign the peace deal with the government in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Despite final round talks taking place to negotiate the deal taking place in Khartoum and Slovenia, it appears as though the efforts were all made in vain.

AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni told AFP news agency that AU commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare Konare would “indicate the next steps to be taken” on Thursday.

|TOP|The African Union has warned that the rebels that are refusing to sign the agreement may face sanctions from the United Nations Security Council.

However, the rebel groups are saying that the current deal is unacceptable. Among alterations they are asking for are: More political posts in a proposed transitional government; A say in the disarmament of pro-government militias; Compensation for victims of the conflict.

Previously the AU had extended the deadline for Darfur’s smaller rebel groups to sign the peace deal by 14 days.

2003 was the year in which rebels first spoke out against the government, as it accused it of discriminating against the black African residents in the area. Following this, a bloody and terrifying campaign was launched by the pro-government Arab Militia, which was labelled as “genocide” by the US government.

However, the Sudanese government has always denied backing the Janjaweed militias, who are known to have killed, raped and looted openly across the region.

Christian Aid described the region: “The situation in Sudan remains desperate. Thousands have been killed in the Darfur and Malakal area and more than 1.8 million are sheltering in makeshift camps, having fled their homes to escape the fighting. As hundreds of thousands of men, women and children face continued violence, starvation, malaria and other fatal diseases, the UN is calling this the worst humanitarian disaster of the decade.”