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Peace Plan Faces Rebel Rejection

As tens of thousands of Americans finally, belatedly rallied in Washington, D.C. against genocide in Sudan, Muslim rebels in the east African nation (a former base of operations for arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden) have rejected a draft agreement to end the bloodshed in the western Darfur region. Mediators from the African Union (AU) agreed in the early hours of Monday to give the warring parties from Sudan`s Darfur region an extra 48 hours to strike a peace deal after a midnight deadline expired.

No deal was likely, but even so Khartoum said it was ready to sign. A spokesman for one of Sudan`s rebel factions said the agreement doesn`t adequately address how any accord will be implemented. Also, he said the deal doesn`t address the rebels` key demands for a vice president from Darfur, and more autonomy for the region in the wake of .

The African Union set May 1, 2006 as the deadline for the end of two years of talks aimed at ending fighting in Darfur. The violence has left about 180,000 people dead, and forced another two million from their homes. The violence, carried out by the "janjaweed" Arab militias supported by the Sudanese government.