Sudan and Darfur's main rebel group signed a ceasefire agreement yesterday, although any final peace deal will still need to be backed by other armed factions.

Justice and Equality Movement leader Khalil Ibrahim said he and Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir signed the accord, which was due to take effect at midnight in Darfur (2100 GMT).

Also present were the host, Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, as well as Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno and Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki.

Last-minute hitches had delayed the signing, a JEM spokesman told AFP, without saying what the problem was.

The signing had been set for around 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), but did not take place until more than two hours later.

On Saturday, representatives of the Khartoum government and the JEM inked a framework agreement in Chad proclaiming a "ceasefire" in the seven-year-old Darfur conflict.

Khartoum has long accused Chad of aiding the rebels, while Ndjamena accused Sudan of backing its own rebel groups, but the two presidents were reconciled in Khartoum this month, setting the stage for the Darfur accord.

The 12-point provisional deal offered the JEM, long-seen as Darfur's most heavily armed rebel group, a power-sharing role in Sudan, where the first presidential and legislative polls in 24 years are to be held in April.

Article three stated that the Sudanese government and the JEM agreed on "the participation of the JEM at all levels of powers (executive, legislative ...)," according to a copy of the accord seen by AFP.

The two sides also agreed that the JEM would become "a political party as soon as the final agreement is signed between the two parties" by March 15, the fourth article of the document says.