N`DJAMENA, Chad (AP) -- Representatives from the Sudanese government and rebels fighting in the western Darfur region signed a cease-fire agreement Thursday that would allow humanitarian agencies into the area and provide a 45-day window to reach a peace agreement.

The signing took place in Chad, where President Idriss Deby and his team of mediators have been helping forge a deal between the two sides.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 860,000 others forced to flee their homes in Darfur, an impoverished region of Sudan that borders Chad, since two main rebel groups took up arms in February 2003 to fight for a share in power and wealth.

U.N. officials and human rights groups have said Arab militia groups, reportedly with Sudanese government backing, are engaged in "ethnic cleansing" against Africans in Darfur. The two rebel groups, along with refugees, have accused the government of bombing and attacking civilians.

The government has denied the allegations.

Sudan`s Investment Minister Sharif Ahmed Omar Badr, who heads a Darfur reconciliation committee, signed on behalf of the government.
"We are very happy to get out of this room and go back to Sudan with this agreement," Badr said. "There is no winner, there is no loser. We reached a consensus and the only winner is Darfur and Sudan."

Minni Arkoi Minawi, secretary general of the Sudanese Liberation Army, and Mohammed Saleh Hamid, leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement, signed for their two rebel groups.

Dr. Sharif Harir, a negotiator for the Sudanese Liberation Army, said the hardest part of the talks was building trust between the two sides.
"We managed, through painful negotiations, to reach an agreement," he said. "Some parties used racially based militias in Darfur, the feelings were strong."

The cease-fire will begin 72 hours after the signing and stay in place for 45 days. The agreement called for final peace talks to begin to begin within two weeks.

"We are seriously, honestly working toward peace," said Abukar Ahmed Nour, a Justice and Equality Movement negotiator. "There is a big disaster happening in Darfur, so the cease-fire and the chance for humanitarian aid is good. We hope the government is serious."

U.N. agencies estimate that some 750,000 Sudanese have become internally displaced in Darfur since fighting erupted early last year between the Sudanese government, allied militias and rebel groups. Another 110,000 people have fled into neighboring Chad.

"I am encouraged by the positive signals that a humanitarian cease-fire may soon be signed by parties to the conflict in Darfur," U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland said in a statement issued earlier Thursday at U.N. headquarters in New York.
The United Nations was finalizing a revised appeal for humanitarian aid for the Darfur region.

On Tuesday, a U.N. fact-finding mission on the human rights situation in Darfur began its work, interviewing Sudanese refugees in Chad. The team plans to travel to Darfur itself to assess the situation.

U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday the Sudanese government must stop militias in Darfur from committing atrocities against the local population and called on the government to provide unrestricted access to humanitarian aid agencies.

"The government of Sudan must not remain complicit in the brutalization of Darfur," Bush said in a statement.

A British development agency, the Intermediate Technology Group, released a statement Thursday warning that if the fighting doesn`t stop in time for the June planting season, a severe famine could beset northern Darfur.

The group said a survey it conducted showed that farmers` homes, water pumps, possessions and food stocks were systematically destroyed in the fighting and farmers and their families have fled their homes. Five years of drought have made the situation even more dire, the group said.