Accord moves Sudan closer to peace say parties

Attabani, left, shakes hands with Mayardit, right, as Moi looks on at the Nairobi State House, in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday.

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- After striking an agreement on two key issues, representatives of Sudan's government and the main rebel faction signed a protocol Saturday that eventually could end the country's 19-year civil war, representatives from both sides said.

Rebel spokesman Samson Kwaje said the agreement -- called the "Machakos Protocol" after the town near Nairobi where it was signed -- provides for the separation of church and state and for autonomy in southern Sudan, where the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA, is based.

For nearly two decades, Christians and animist -- the traditional African culture -- fighters in southern Sudan have fought northern Arab-Muslims who run the government. More than 2 million people, most of them from the south, have died in the war, either as war casualties or from hunger or disease.

Kwaje said future national legislation would not impose sharia -- or strict Islamic law -- on the mainly Christian south.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Catherine Bond reports on a new agreement between Sudan's government and rebel forces that may bring the nation to peace (July 20) Play video

Under the terms of the accord, after six years, people in the south will be able to vote in a referendum to decide whether to stay with Sudan's mainly Arab-Muslim north -- where the government is based -- or form an independent state.

The struggle for more autonomy and a referendum has been a key issue in the SPLA's war with the government since 1983.

The two sides will meet again in August to discuss outstanding issues of power-sharing, the sharing of wealth such as oil revenues, security arrangements and, finally, a cease-fire.

"We believe this is a major leap in the direction of a final solution and settlement of the problem in southern Sudan," Dr. Ghazi Salahuddin, head of the Sudan government's delegation, told a news conference presided over by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi.

Asked whether an agreement would be reached on remaining issues in August, Kwaje said, "Yes, I think as Dr. Ghazi said, the most crucial issues that were unresolvable have been resolved; the rest I think will be much easier."

The SPLA has not yet agreed to the government's long-standing offer for a cease-fire, but a government spokesman hoped one could be reached in the coming weeks.

"Our position as a government is to go for a cease-fire. It is only logical now," Salahuddin said. Kwaje added, "Our position is that a cease-fire will always be the last item to cement any comprehensive political agreement."

The Machakos Protocol -- which comes after five weeks of peace talks -- was signed by Salahuddin, who also is Sudan's presidential peace adviser, and Salva Kiir, a senior SPLA officer who led the rebel's negotiating team.

Observers said the agreement was a result of increased Western pressure, the negotiating skills of Kenya's mediator -- Lt. Gen. Lazarus Sumbieywo -- and Khartoum's desire to access oil fields in southern Sudan.

Reuters cites regional analysts as saying that renewed interest in the situation by the United States was a key element in the success of the talks.

Diplomats from Britain, the United States and Norway observed the signing.

But Reuters also reports that some analysts remained cautious, pointing out that there is a deep distrust between the two sides and many deals signed in the past have been violated.

The agreements reached on Saturday remain fairly vague and details must be settled before they can be implemented, they noted.

But others hailed the agreement as a significant step forward.

"This is a major break with the past," regional political analyst Moustafa Hassouna said. "I think there has been a creation of a middle ground...that has yielded concessions that have never been verbalized before."