Darfur rebels wary of Sudan peace deal with south.

CAIRO, Jan 2 (Reuters) – A rebel group in Sudan’s western Darfur region has warned rebels behind a separate revolt in the south to be wary of how the government carries out a peace deal to end Africa’s longest running civil war.

Sudan Liberation Army rebel in the town of Deribat in the Jebel Marra mountains of South Darfur. (Reuters).

The Khartoum government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed the final chapters of a deal for the south on Friday, paving the way for the formal signing of all eight accords, possibly next Sunday.

But one of the two main Darfur rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), said in a statement: “We warn of the regime’s record of violating agreements and promises.

“We would stress that the implementation stage is the most difficult and our recent experiences … with the Khartoum government confirm that the easiest thing is to sign but the agreement remains ink on paper, or rather is liable to collapse before the ink is dry.”

The Darfur rebels and the government have repeatedly accused each other of violating a truce they signed in April.

The SLM said it would continue to struggle by political, military and diplomatic means and through negotiations for a comprehensive peace covering Darfur, the neighbouring Kordofan region and the east of Sudan.

“We warn that the war will take new forms and that the situation will not stabilise until we reach a just and comprehensive peace,” it added.

The SLM and the other main Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), say they are fighting to end the political marginalisation of the Darfuris.

Tens of thousands of people have died since they took up arms against the government in early 2003 and more than 1.6 million Darfuris have fled their homes.

A spokesman for the JEM, contacted by telephone on Sunday, said they would speak about the southern agreement when the signing takes place.

Around 2 million people have died in the 21-year war in the south which erupted when Khartoum tried to impose Islamic law on the entire country. The south is mainly Christian and animist.

Fighting has also erupted in the east of the vast country where ethnic Beja rebels have accused Khartoum of neglect.