Peace treaty ends Sudan's civil war But Conflict in Darfur Rages

Sudan's government and southern rebels clinched a historic, long-awaited agreement Sunday that ends Africa's longest civil war and brings hope to millions of exiled Sudanese yearning to return home. But continued violence in the troubled region of Darfur, previously described by the Bush administration as genocide, cast a shadow over Sunday's agreement, which does not cover the Darfur conflict. As men in leopard-skin loin clothes danced and women in yellow-frilled skirts sang, Sudan's first Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha and John Garang, the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, signed the pact in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Secretary of State Colin Powell, along with eight African heads of state and hundreds of ordinary Sudanese, witnessed the ceremony in the city's main sports stadium, which closed one of the continent's darkest chapters. The 21-year-old conflict in the south killed an estimated 2 million, mainly through war-induced hunger and disease, and displaced 4.5 million, reducing Africa's largest country to one dependent on international aid. "This is a promising day for the people of Sudan, but only if today's promises are kept," said Powell, who signed the accord as a witness. The war in Darfur has taken an estimated 70,000 lives, uprooted 1.6 million and shows no signs of fading despite cease-fires and threats of international sanctions. In a 16-page report on Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said conditions in Darfur were deteriorating. He charged the Sudanese government of doing nothing to disarm and prosecute Arab militias called the Janjaweed who have committed some of the worst abuses in Darfur. The instability, analysts say, could undermine Sunday's accord. [more]