Egypt on Saturday welcomed the Darfur peace agreement that was signed between the Khartoum government and a main rebel faction in Sudan's western region of Darfur, the official MENA news agency reported.

Egyptian presidential statement expressed full support for the document which is expected to bring an end to three years of conflict, and called on all parties to the Darfur conflict to sign the agreement and abide by its terms.

"Egypt will continue offering humanitarian assistance to the battered Darfur and be ready to contribute to peacekeeping efforts in the area," said the statement.

On Friday, the Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Minni Arkou Minawi signed the peace agreement in the Nigerian capital Abuja at a ceremony attended by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, African Union (AU) Chairman Denis Sassou-Nguessou and AU Commission President Alpha Oumar Konare as well as mediators from the United States, Britain, Canada, Libya, Egypt and other countries.

However, two other main Darfur rebel factions refused to ink the peace agreement, claiming the deal did not meet their demands.

The signing of the peace agreement is expected to help pave the way for the deployment of international peacekeeping forces to replace the underfunded 7,800-strong AU forces in Darfur. But the Sudanese government has so far turned down the UN takeover of the peacekeeping mission from the AU.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on all the concerned parties to seize the historic opportunity to bring the conflict in Darfur to an end.

Rebels in Sudan's western arid Darfur region took up arms against the government in February 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglect.

Source: Xinhua