The U.S. Deputy Secretary helped broker the deal signed by the Sudanese government, and the principal rebel faction.

NPR: Darfur Rebels Sign Pact with Sudanese Government

Even before it had started, Angola 2010 suffered a grievous blow, when a rebel faction attacked the Togolese team as they travelled into the northern enclave of Cabinda.

BBC: Angola 2010: Tragedy and triumph

The recent violence flared between supporters of two different rebel groups, a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), led by Abdul Wahid al-Nur, and the Liberty and Justice Movement (LJM).

ECONOMIST: Trouble in Sudan's Darfur region

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Syrian officer who was in charge of Yarubiyah border crossing said a man identifying himself as a leader of one faction in the Islamist rebel coalition called him on March 1 demanding he and his men surrender.

WSJ: Islamists Try to Firm Grip on Syria Regions

The only one attending is former rebel Minni Minnawi, the leader of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) that signed up to the failed 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement.

ECONOMIST: An end to the war?

However, the talks are being boycotted by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur, the leader of the largest faction of the SLM, as well as by the leader of the other main Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Khalil Ibrahim.

ECONOMIST: An end to the war?