A Tuareg group in Niger has rejected reports that they had agreed to lay down their arms.
The Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ) denied on Tuesday they had accepted a mediation offer a day earlier by Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader to halt their fight against Niger's government.
"President Aghaly ag Alambo [who heads the MNJ] never referred to an MNJ release of prisoners, ceasefire or laying down of arms," a statement on the group's website read.
The group said Alambo had relayed a ceasefire message on behalf of a Malian Tuareg group.
The MNJ took up arms last year calling for a greater share of Niger's resources, in particular uranium that is mined in the north, where most of the clashes have taken place.
'Treacherous misinterpretation'
The conflict is so far thought to have claimed the lives of 70 government soldiers and 200 rebels.
A day earlier, Niger state television had broadcast comments by Alambo, translated from the Tuareg Tamasheq language, which included a pledge to lay down weapons and join Gaddafi's mediation process.
The MNJ accused the government in Niamey, Niger's capital, of a "treacherous" misinterpretation, saying the message conveyed by Alambo was from Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, the Malian Tuareg leader, to Gaddafi.
Gadaffi has acted as a mediator in the conflicts in Mali and Niger.
Separate conflicts
The MNJ statement said the rebels would not lay down their weapons until their complaints had been addressed by the government.
Niger's government has refused to talk to the rebels, whom it dismisses as bandits and smugglers, until they disarm.
A similar rebellion has simmered in Mali's north since the beginning of 2008.
Although analysts say the rebellions, led by Tuareg nomad movements, are loosely connected, there are questions over how much Alambo can speak for his Malian counterparts, who are themselves divided.
Unlike Niger, Mali's government has held some negotiations with its country's Tuareg rebels.