The Sudanese government has signed a permanent truce with rebels in the south, bringing a cease-fire to the country’s long-running civil war. The permanent deal, signed in Kenya, is expected to lead to a more comprehensive truce this month.
The agreement was signed just hours before the end of a year-long deadline agreed to in 2003 with the United Nations. President Thabo Mbeki from South Africa was the official witness to the signing, held to great ceremony.
Kenyan mediator General Lazaro Sumbeiywo said: "We now have all the components that will form the comprehensive Sudan peace agreement. Every topic on our agenda has been discussed and agreed on."
