Sudan govt, rebels sign deal

2004-05-27 10:24

Naivasha, Kenya - The Sudanese government and rebels have signed key agreements to resolve the last remaining issues needed to end Africa's longest-running conflict.

The government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army on Wednesday signed three protocols on power-sharing and how to administer three disputed areas in central Sudan, wrapping up outstanding issues that had prevented the parties from reaching a final deal.

All that remains for the parties to work out are procedural matters to end the 21-year conflict, in which more than 2 million people have died, mostly from war-induced famine.

But it could take months to determine whether the diplomatic solution will translate to peace on the ground. The signing of the agreements on Wednesday was delayed for several hours because of last-minute disputes over power-sharing.

A Western diplomat at the talks said US Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned rebel leader John Garang to discuss the delays.

"We have reached the crest of the last hill in our tortuous ascent to the heights of peace," Garang said after the signing.

Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha said peace was a hand "we are extending to all of the world."

In Washington, US state department spokesperson Richard Boucher said the signing will trigger a process leading to the establishment of normal relations with Sudan if certain conditions are met.

Boucher said these include the completion of a comprehensive peace agreement to end the southern conflict and an end to the violence in Darfur region of western Sudan, where a separate 15-month rebellion has made more than 1 million people homeless.

UN officials have described the situation in Darfur as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, but the rebels in western Sudan are not involved in the peace process taking place in Naivasha.

Garang said he hoped the peace process for the southern conflict would have "a favourable knock-on effect," for Darfur.

Taha didn't directly mention the western insurgency, but in an apparent reference to Darfur he pledged that the government would work with the southern rebels to solve Sudan's other problems.

- AP