The world watches as deadline for Darfur peace deal looms

"As far as this mediation is concerned, this is as far as we can go. The AU has exhausted listening to the arguments on both sides," Sam Ibok, head of the AU mediation team, told Reuters:

He said it was now up to the Sudanese parties to negotiate face-to-face and make any changes they felt were needed in the next few days in order to meet Sunday's deadline for a deal. Several previous deadlines passed without any agreement.

This time, if the parties reject the proposal, the AU would not simply carry on with the talks. Instead, the body's Peace and Security Council would have to decide on a new strategy for the Darfur peace process, Ibok said.



The draft deal is the result of almost two years of arduous negotiations in the Nigerian capital Abuja, during which violence in Darfur has spiralled beyond the control of 7,000 AU peacekeepers who are supposed to monitor a 2004 ceasefire.

Photo: Majzoub Al-Khalifa, head of the Sudanese government's delegation makes a speech at the Sudan peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, Apr 25, 2006. African Union mediators presented a draft peace agreement to warring parties in Darfur, telling the Khartoum government and rebel groups that the world was watching as a deadline for a deal looms. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)



Photo: Photo: Members of one of the two main Darfur rebel groups Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are seen at the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria Nov 29, 2005. (Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters/Sudan Watch Dec 8, 2005)



Photo: Mohamed Tugod, JEM chief negotiator at Darfur peace talks



Photo: Sudan Liberation Army's (SLA) Secretary-General Minni Arcua Minnawi (C) speaks during the SLA unity conference in Haskanita, in Sudan's eastern Darfur province Oct 29, 2005. Conference ended by voting Minnawi in as SLA president.



Photo: Abdel Whaed el-Nur the leader of the other faction of the SLA attends at the Darfur peace talks in Abuja Feb 4, 2006. (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

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