ABUJA (AFP) - African Union mediators struggled Thursday to persuade the Sudanese government and rebel leaders from the war-torn region of Darfur to sign up to a compromise security deal and save their peace talks from failure.

After two weeks of talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja the parties remain bitterly divided over almost everything on the table, and AU officials admit that attempts to reach an agreement on security in Darfur are deadlocked.

Mediators have drawn up a proposed compromise deal to demilitarise the 20 month-old conflict - which has driven 1.5 million people from their homes - and say there is little more they can do to persuade the envoys to sign it.

"The two parties have such separate positions that we have been unable to draw up another option, for fear that the whole edifice will come crashing down," said AU co-mediator Ahmad Allam-Mi of Chad.

"We have once more issued an appeal for them to sign this compromise, which is the best possible option, as a stage to advance negotiations."

The AU gave the draft "security protocol" to the warring parties on Monday, and they have come under intense international pressure to sign it in order to reinforce a shaky ceasefire and unblock stalled political talks.

But both sides have so far refused.

The two rebel movements at the talks, while divided on much else, are united in their demand that any security deal include a clear timetable for the Khartoum government to disarm its Arab proxy militia, the Janjaweed.

Meanwhile, the government has refused to accept a proposed "no-fly zone" which would have prevented Sudanese forces from launching air-raids in rebel-held areas in the west of the country.

The two sides were due to meet later Thursday to review the document.

With talks once more facing complete deadlock, the African Union pinned its hopes on the current chairman of the pan-continental body and host of the Abuja conference, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria.

Obasanjo arrived home from an Asian tour late Wednesday and AU officials said they hoped he would bring pressure to bear on the negotiating teams to reach some kind of agreement before the end of the week.

"We are thinking of closing the negotiations by the end of the week. We are currently in touch with the Nigerian government to fix a date for a signing ceremony, at least for the humanitarian protocol," Allam-Mi said.

Darfur has been riven with conflict since February last year when two movements launched a rebellion against Khartoum, alleging that the Arab-led government had neglected their region's largely black African communities.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World