After five weeks of negotiations, the Khartoum government has agreed to terms for the Sudan People's Liberation Army's (SPLA) biggest demand, independence. Under the deal, a six-year transition period will be followed by a referendum offering secession to Christians and animists in the south.
The two sides have not agreed on a ceasefire but one is expected by September. According to the BBC, both sides are under intense U.S. pressure to reach a deal and have agreed to continue negotiations through August.
According to Nairobi's The Nation, a female member of the SPLA wept as the deal was reached. "I cannot believe this, or my God, how sweet is the news, after all these years of civil strife," she cried. "Now we will have something good to tell our people who have suffered beyond repair."
However, six years is a long time. As the BBC reports, both sides are cautious and "there is still a long way to go before the Sudanese can be assured of a new era of peace."
Future Archbishop of Canterbury to take part in ritual with pagan roots "As the sun rises over a circle of Pembrokeshire bluestones, the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams, will don a long white cloak while druids chant a prayer to the ancient god and goddess of the land," reported The Times, London, on Friday. "After a trumpet fanfare and the thrice partial sheathing and unsheathing of a six foot, six inch ...
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