The most powerful Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, is scheduled to sign a truce with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir Tuesday in Doha, Qatar. The deal, negotiated in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, was spurred along by the recent pledge from Sudan and Chad to quit fueling the proxy war on their border. The cease-fire is supposed to lay the groundwork for a formal peace deal to be completed by March 15, though a Justice and Equality Movement spokesman told Reuters that such a deadline was unrealistic.

The United States says it is "deeply concerned" about political developments in Sudan, where new laws have raised tensions between the northern-based government and semi-autonomous south. The State Department said it was responding to reports that the north's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) broke an agreement with the south's dominant SPLM party and changed the language in a key bill. The bill, setting terms for a referendum on southern independence, was passed Tuesday, despite a protest by southern lawmakers who walked out of parliament. A State Department spokesman says the NCP

In early December, crowds gathered outside the police station in Khartoum to protest the detention of senior Southern party officials. The South's ruling party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, had organized a political rally with Northern opposition groups.

Turkish officials say Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will not attend a summit of Islamic leaders in Istanbul Monday. Turkey said last week that Mr.