Sudan's government agreed has to allow more African Union troops into the Darfur region to confine rebel fighters to their bases, a possible precursor to disarmament, a top government negotiator said.
The breakthrough came at peace talks in Nigeria which had earlier been threatened with failure by the rebels' refusal to discuss being moved back to base by Sudanese government forces.
"They may need more forces besides protection of their monitors to help cantonment and protection of the rebels and we agree about that," said the government's top negotiator and Agriculture Minister Mr Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed, adding that the exact number would be decided in the future.
Sudan has already agreed to 300 AU troops in Darfur with a limited mandate to protect AU monitors of a widely disregarded ceasefire signed in April.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also AU chairman, has proposed sending about 2,000 AU troops to garrison the rebels in a deal that would see Khartoum disarming the pro-government Janjaweed militia.
Mr Khalifa said the disarmament of the Janjaweed had already started.
Human rights groups have called on the AU to widen the mandate of their troops to protecting civilians in the vast desert region, where more than a million have been driven from their homes, but Mr Khalifa repeated the government position that only the government was permitted to protect civilians.