The rebels, based in Sumatra and Sulawesi, proclaimed a Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Pemerintah Revolusioner Republik Indonesia) on 15 February.

Several key groups, including rebels based in Iran, five million refugees and some key military commanders, had little or no representation at the special council here.

The Philippines is fighting a Muslim insurgency, Mr. Overholt noted, with the rebels based on the southern island of Mindanao.

Most of the rebels based in Pakistan are Sunni Muslims, who are in a majority in Afghanistan; most of the Afghans based in Iran are Shiites.

Mr. Annan also appealed to Sierra Leone's neighbors, particularly Liberia and Guinea, to prevent rebels based on their soil from crossing back into Sierra Leone, according to his spokesman, Fred Eckhard.

Those two countries - contending that they need to secure their own borders from rebels based in Congo - have sent troops to support the Congolese rebels.

The United Nations and the Organization of American States agreed today to create a joint commission to oversee the disarming and resettlement of the American-backed Nicaraguan rebels based in Honduras.

The cease-fire accord, while only an agreement between one party in the Government and the rebels, is the most promising sign so far to an end to the conflict that has pitted the northern Khartoum Government against the rebels based in the south.

His army, however, was ineffective against the rebels based in the Sierra Maestra and Escambray mountains.

In Chad, the government is fighting its own war against rebels based in Sudan and bent on ousting Chad's ailing president, Idriss Déby.