LA Times: Sudan, Southern Rebels a Step Closer to Ending 21-Year War

[NoPasaran]

UNITED NATIONS — Sudan's government signed a preliminary peace deal Friday with rebels from the country's south, edging one step closer to a comprehensive accord to end Africa's longest running civil war.

However, the continuing violence in the western region of Darfur cast a shadow over celebrations.

"The war in the south is over," Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir told reporters after the signing ceremony at Lake Naivasha, Kenya, where the final rounds of talks began early last year. "Our happiness will not be complete unless we solve the problem of Darfur."

Delegates from the warring sides initialed the two final chapters of an eight-part pact that spell out a power-sharing agreement and a permanent cease-fire.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sudan1jan01.story