KHARTOUM - Sudan signed a three-month ceasefire deal with a second Darfur rebel group on Thursday, a diplomatic source close to the negotiations said, part of a government push to end the conflict in the western Sudanese region before elections.

"Two agreements were signed. There was a temporary ceasefire agreement that will get renewed as the talks progress. There was also a framework agreement which lists all the topics for future negotiations," the source said.

Representatives from the government and Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), an umbrella group of small splinter factions, signed the deal in the Qatari capital Doha, weeks after Khartoum signed a similar accord with Darfur's powerful insurgent Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).