This peace pact covers all the eight previously signed deals, including earlier agreed protocols on how to share power and natural wealth, what to do with armed forces during a six-year interim period, how to administer three disputed areas, and the latest on permanent ceasefire and modalities of implementing peace deals.

Garang said after the signing ceremony that "This is a just and honorable peace agreement ... This peace agreement will change Sudan forever and Sudan will not be the same again as the spirit of peace will engulf the country and usher in democratic development but not war."

Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir also pledged "we are going to work together to ensure peace prevail in the country and hope that this agreement will be implemented."

Historic achievement

"This is a historic moment for the Sudanese people, Africa and the international community at large. It is a signal that the Sudanese and indeed Africa is capable of resolving their own issues politically without fighting," the chief mediator, retired Kenyan General Lazaro Sumbeiywo told Xinhua.

Civil war in southern Sudan could be dated back to 1983 when rebels took up arms against the government to demand greater autonomy for the south. It is estimated that two decades of conflict have claimed 2 million lives and displaced over 4 million others.

There have been numerous attempts, both internationally and from within Sudan itself, to bring the war to an end. The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an African regional body consisting of Sudan and several of her neighboring states, has made the greatest contribution to the peace process.

"It was monumental task, nearly mission impossible," Sumbeiywo remembers, referring to the rough road from 1994 when both sides drew a road map to the peace talks in Nairobi for the final peace accord.

Since 1993, the leaders of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya have pursued a peace initiative for Sudan under the auspices of IGAD, and until June 2002 a new round of peace negotiations began under IGAD, and international observer countries, the US, Britain, Norway and Italy, were also associated with the talks.

The session ended on July 20, 2002 when parties signed the Machakos Protocol in Kenyan town of Machakos, which provides a framework for broader negotiations. In the following two years, peace negotiations continued in Kenya with progress being made little by little.

With the persistent efforts from both sides and worldwide, the Sudanese government and southern rebels signed protocols on wealth sharing, power sharing, security arrangements, the three disputed areas and the last two on permanent ceasefire and modalities of implementing peace deals, together making up the overall deal.

The international community has also put much pressure on the two parties and last November, the UN Security Council even moved to convene in the peace talks' venue Kenya, to push for a quick end to the longest-running war in Africa.

Commenting on the whole peace process and the fruitful results it has yielded, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said "This will contribute to stability in the strategic Horn of Africa and will send a clear, positive message to the people of the Middle East, Africa, and throughout the world that the most intractable of conflicts can be resolved."

The end to a beginning

Although there's great expectation for the southern Sudan to regain peace and development after the deals, some have expressed worries on the difficulties for implementing the peace agreement and the reconstruction for the war-ravaged region.

One of the two main rebel groups in the separate western Sudan's conflict, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), has stressed the implementation stage is the most difficult.

"The easiest thing is to sign but the agreement remains ink on paper, or rather is liable to collapse before the ink is dry," SLM said, referring to the failure of the ceasefire agreement it signed with Khartoum in the African Union brokered talks.

However, Amin Omar, Sudan's government delegation spokesman, has expressed his optimism that although the challenge lies in implementing the accords, "with determination and external support, we shall deliver on our promises and the Sudanese will see the results."

On the reconstruction work for southern Sudan, Samson Kwaje, spokesman of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army acknowledged that the SPLM/A administration faces an uphill task especially on meeting the people's expectations.

"Our people need schools, hospitals, water, roads, jobs, houses, food, and security. SPLM/A will do its best not to dash the high hopes of the southerners who have not have peace for so long," Kwaje said.

The return of refugees and internal displaces people would be another challenge to the south. An estimated 4 million southern Sudanese displaced by the war will return to their homes.

In spite of the difficulties lying ahead, the international community has voiced their desire to give a hand for the implementation of the ceasefire and the tough reconstruction work.

The UN has expressed hopes to deploy more than 10,000 troops in southern and central Sudan to maintain peace, help boost confidence and assure individuals about their security.

The Dutch EU presidency welcomed the agreement and pledged the EU's help in reconstruction, provided the two sides carried out their commitment to bringing peace and development to the region.

"The US will strongly support implementation of the peace agreement, that will commence following the January 9 signing ceremony, in order to promote stability, prosperity, and democracy in a unified Sudan," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said.

"We are going to start the year 2005 on a great footing. Obviously, it is our obligation to make sure that this agreement succeeds," South African President Thabo Mbeki said.

"What we will do is to engage in post-conflict reconstruction, as the people of Sudan, wherever they are, want peace, development, roads, education, housing and clean water," he added.

Spur for Darfur?

"You cannot have peace in one part of the country and war in another part of the country," said the SPLM/A leader John Garang.

Garang referred to Sudan's western Darfur region and the accord signed on Sunday does not cover the separate conflict going on there. UN officials hope a solution to the North-South civil war will spur an end to the Darfur conflict, which the UN describes as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The restive western region has plunged into conflict since February 2003, when two rebel forces took up arms against the Khartoum government, accusing the authorities of not protecting them from the attacks of "Janjaweed" militia and demanding autonomy. The fighting has so far claimed thousands of lives and brought over one million people homeless.

The African Union has spearheaded international attempts to resolve the crisis. Under the AU's auspices, the Sudanese government and two rebel groups held several rounds of peace talks in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and Nigerian capital Abuja.

But the government and Darfur's rebels have not succeeded in reaching a political solution, keeping accusing each other of violating the ceasefire agreement signed last April.

Diplomats hope a north-south deal could be a blueprint for peace in Darfur.

"The deal in the south puts Sudan on the doorstep of a new era of peace for the whole country," said Jean Baptiste Natama, a senior AU political officer.

The deal will be "a means to the solution in Darfur, a necessary bridge," Natama said, "I think it will be of some interest to the rebels in Darfur to get a glance to see whether their interests are addressed or not."

The Sudanese government and rebels also pledged their commitment, as Sudan President Omar el-Bashir said "I will work hard to resolve all the problems of Sudan. Our happiness will not be complete unless we solve the problem of Darfur."

Garang also pledged on the eve of the final peace deal signing ceremony that "The SPLM/A is committed to an inclusive and comprehensive peace all over Sudan. It will work with the National Congress Party and other political forces to realize and ensure a just peace agreement for Darfur."

A leader of one of Darfur's rebel groups, Sudan Liberation Army Chairman Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur, has also said that only fair deals for all the marginalized people of Sudan would bring a lasting peace in Sudan.

UN chief Kofi Annan said in a statement read by UN special representative for Sudan Jan Pronk after the signing ceremony: "The signing is a milestone, it gives a blueprint for addressing conflicts in other areas, like in Darfur where the situation remains horrific."

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2005)