Sudan and Darfur’s most active rebel group, The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), spoke with the government of Khartoum, agreeing to sign a declaration of good intentions on Tuesday. The deal was reached in Qatar and hopes to end attacks on more than two million people in refugee camps and an exchange of prisoners, diplomats say.Although JEM agreed to a sign the declaration, no other Sudanese rebel group has considered any sort of negotiation with the government. The declaration of good intentions signing was announced by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, whose country has been mediating talks since last Tuesday. Martin Plaut, BBC’s Africa editor, says that by making an attempt at a peace agreement now, the Khartoum government is making a statement that they are signaling a movement of peace following intense pressure from the international community.

JEM spokesperson in London, Haroun Abdul Hami, told the BBC’s “World Today” program that “we all endorse the peace process.”

“Qatar will be the base of the negotiations and also we are going to endorse the role of… the neighboring countries of Sudan.”

Hami went on to state that “the most important point is to stop the harassment of our people in the IDP [Internally Displaced People’s] camps in addition to urging the government not to impede the humanitarian aid to our people.”

According to a recent UN survey, approximately 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have been displaced since the Darfur conflict began six years ago after non-Muslim groups made complaints of ethnic cleansing by Sudan’s Arab-dominated government. The groups eventually launched a violent campaign and the Darfur conflict began. The Sudanese government does admit to mobilizing “self-defense militias” in response to the uprising, but ardently denies any links to the Janjaweed, a group largely accused of attempting to “cleanse” black Africans from mass territories.

With the Darfur conflict’s history present, both Hami and Khartoum government officials hope to spread a spirit of peace through nonviolent negotiations.