Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail railed against what he described as the double standards of the international community in demanding the immediate disarmament of the militias but not putting the same pressure on the rebels, the Khartoum press reported.

"The two rebel movements were moving around with their weapons among civilians," the Al-Akhbar Al-Youm daily quoted the minister as saying.

Ismail said that both the African Union's resolution on the Darfur crisis and the abortive ceasefire agreement reached in Chad in April required cantonment of the rebels concurrently with disarmament of the militias.

"But the rebels did not respond to this condition," the minister said, insisting the militias had only armed themselves to protect their Arab tribesmen.

"How can we disarm when the rebels are still holding onto their weapons?" he asked.

A report to the Security Council by UN envoy Jan Pronk reported that by the August 29 deadline set last month Khartoum had done nothing to meet its obligation to disarm the militias held responsible for a reign of terror in Darfur.

Ismail took issue with that assessment, insisting "the government has begun disarming" the militias.

The issue of cantonment of rebel forces is a major stumbling block at peace talks in Abuja, with the rebels refusing to countenance any such move while the militias remain at large.

The talks were due to resume Saturday after a pause for the Muslim day of rest.