According to BBC News Sudans government and main rebel group Wednesday signed key deals clearing the way for a full treaty to end Africas longest-running civil war.
There were scenes of jubilation at the signing in Naivasha, Kenya, as last-minute delays were overcome after two years of discussions.
An estimated two million people have died in the conflict, which erupted between the north and south in 1983.
The deals do not cover a separate conflict in the western Darfur region.
The deal between the government and the rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) involved protocols on power-sharing and the administration of three disputed areas in central Sudan.
The SPLA leader John Garang said: We have reached the crest of the last hill in our tortuous ascent to the heights of peace. There are no more hills ahead of us, the remaining is flat ground.
The framework brings together the mainly Muslim Arab government of the north with the black African Christian rebels of the south.
Hundreds of Sudanese and Kenyan officials and foreign diplomats, including US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Charles Snyder, were kept waiting for several hours for the signing ceremony in the Kenyan lakeside resort of Naivasha.
Talks had stalled on how power would be shared in a transitional administration; on whether the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, would be governed under Islamic law; and how Abyei, the Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile regions would be administered.
The two sides have already established that the south should be autonomous for six years, culminating in a referendum on the key issue of independence, with Sharia law remaining in the north.
Protocols have also been signed on how to share out oil revenues, the establishment of separate monetary systems in the north and south, and security arrangements involving the two armies.
It is hoped that a final peace treaty could be signed in Washington as early as next month.
The US said the deal paved the way for normal relations to be revived with Sudan, providing certain conditions were met.
These included an end to the violence in the western region of Darfur, where a million people have fled their homes.
The BBCs Karen Allen, in Naivasha, says there is still a lot of work to be done, and the problems of implementing the deal in a country embittered by two decades of war could prove to be the biggest hurdle of all.
Kilde: BBC NEWS.
The Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan, Wednesday commended the personal efforts of the First Vice-President of the Sudan, Ali Osman Taha, and the Chairman of the SPLM/A, John Garang, who have been engaged in the talks since September 2003. He urged the two parties to sustain their commitment and persevere in reaching agreement on the remaining issues, especially the ceasefire arrangements, the implementation modalities and international guarantees for a future comprehensive peace agreement. He emphasized the interest and readiness of the United Nations to contribute to such efforts.
The United Nations stands ready to contribute to the efforts of the international community to help implement a peace agreement concluded by the Sudanese parties, he said.
Kilde: FN
Danida støtter fredsbestræbelserne og det humanitære hjælpearbejde for borgerkrigens ofre i Sudan med over 30 mio. kr. En del af pengene kanaliseres gennem private bistandsorganisationer.
