The African Union (AU) has extended a deadline for two of Darfur’s smaller rebel groups to sign a peace deal by 14 days. If they have still not signed by then, UN sanctions may be implemented.

|PIC1|The AU has stated that its hope for the United Nations to take control of the peacekeeping force in Darfur as soon as possible, however, many within Sudan have made it known they want the AU to remain in charge.

Earlier this month, Darfur’s largest rebel group signed a peace deal, with the purpose to finally end the three-year conflict, which has claimed at least 200,000 lives, with another 2 million forced from their homes.

The Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) head, Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur, and the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) representative, Khalil Ibrahim, have both commented that they want more concessions from Sudan prior to the deal becoming satisfactory to them.

On 15th May, Nur also reported to the BBC that he wanted to be appointed vice-president.

The AU has said that they will urge the UN to take action against the smaller rebel groups that refuse to meet the new 31st May deadline.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Olu Adeinji, a spokesman for the AU, reported to AFP that a failure to sign would “indicate their non-commitment to the peace process.”|TOP|

The peace deal signed by Darfur's biggest rebel group, the main faction of the SLA was made earlier this month after a long period of negotiations, as well as calls for the disbandment of rebel forces and the disarmament of the pro-government Janjaweed militia.

Previously Sudan’s government, during the peace deal negotiations, had left it open whether it might drop its objections to the UN taking over from the AU’s heavily under-funded troops. However, Lam Akol, the Foreign Minister, has said his government stillr ejects the transfer of the peacekeeping operation, but that it would not enter dialogue directly with the UN on the matter.

|AD|The conflict in Darfur has been ongoing for three years and has claimed more than 200,000 lives, with more than 2 million being displaced. Mediators have said that this will be the last attempt to secure peace for the troubled region.

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.”