Darfur Arab tribes sign pact after clashes kill 140

By Simon Apiku

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rival Darfur Arab tribes have signed a truce after more than 140 people died in clashes, an official and tribal leaders said on Sunday.

"It's an agreement to cease hostilities," Mohammed Ahmed Hassan, a Terjem tribal leader, told Reuters of the deal his tribe signed with the Rizeigat on Saturday.

"If the Rizeigat adhere to and respect the agreement, the Terjem will not violate it," he said.

Both are Arab tribes in South Darfur state. Fighting has continued on and off for months between them, but a reconciliation deal signed in February fell apart in July.

Ali Hassan, a Rizeigat tribal leader, said his group was committed to the truce. "We are going around trying to explain it to our people," he said.

Most of the casualties of the fighting were Terjem.

"Around 145 of our people were killed between July 30 and August 8," said Mohammed Ahmed Hassan, adding that 40 people with serious injuries were still in hospital in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State.

"We have buried them in mass graves," he added. He said the Rizeigat had superior firepower.