Darfur rebel group 'makes deal'

Deal reportedly includes exchange of prisoners

Sudan and Darfur's most active rebel group have reached a tentative deal, amid hopes it could lead to talks on a peace deal in the war-torn region.

Khartoum and the Justice and Equality Movement agreed to sign a declaration of good intentions on Tuesday.

The deal - reached in Qatar - includes an end to attacks on more than two million people in refugee camps and an exchange of prisoners, diplomats say.

However, other rebel groups are refusing to talk to the government.

The BBC's Africa editor, Martin Plaut, says that much more needs to be done to achieve peace in the region.

And hanging over any agreement is a proposed indictment from the International Criminal Court of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for alleged crimes.

'Intense pressure'

The agreement between the Sudanese government and the Jem rebels was announced by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, whose country has been mediating talks under way since last Tuesday.

The Jem is the most heavily armed rebel group in Darfur

"There has been great progress," Sheikh Hamad told reporters in Doha.

"The content of the agreement, which will be signed tomorrow [Tuesday], has the agreement of all parties," he added.

Once the agreement is signed, small teams of negotiators will continue talks, the BBC's Africa editor says.

He says that by reaching this deal now, the government in Khartoum is signalling that it is moving on peace - under intense pressure from the international community.

A Jem spokesperson in London, Haroun Abdul Hami, told the BBC's World Today programme that "we all endorse the peace process".

"Qatar will be the base of the negotiations and also we are going to endorse the role of... the neighbouring countries of Sudan," Mr Hami continued.

"But the most important point is to stop the harassment of our people in the IDP [Internally Displaced People's] camps in addition to [urging] the government not to impede the humanitarian aid to our people."

Speaking to the BBC in New York, the Sudanese envoy to the UN described the agreement as "a very remarkable progress".

"It touches also on issues like security and safety of the IDPs and civilians, about which detailed discussions will be resumed in two weeks time," Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said.

He rejected any suggestion that Sudan was trying to deflect attention away from the proposed ICC indictment of President Omar al-Bashir.

The United Nations says at least 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have been displaced since the conflict began six years ago.

Fighting started after African groups complaining of discrimination at the hands of Sudan's Arab-dominated government launched a rebellion.

The government admits mobilising "self-defence militias" in response, though it denies links to the Janjaweed, which has been accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans from large swathes of territory.

The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force, Unamid, remains at only about half its planned strength of 26,000, a year after the UN took joint control of the mission.