KENYA: The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, travels to a lakeside lodge in Kenya this morning to give added impetus to talks aimed at ending 20 years of war in neighbouring Sudan.
Hopes have never been higher for the end of Africa's bloodiest and most enduring conflict. Since 1983, fighting has cost two million lives, triggered famines and massacres, resurrected slavery and condemned generations to medieval-style poverty.
Now an end is finally in sight. Last week rebel leader Mr John Garang returned to Lake Naivasha, north of Nairobi, for face-to-face talks with the First Vice-President, Mr Ali Osman Taha.
In September, the two men agreed security arrangements for a six-year transition period. Now they are attempting to hammer out the final details of a peace deal.
Analysts say the omens have never been better.
US and western pressure have helped propel the process forward. Mr Powell said yesterday that he was travelling to Naivasha to "try to put some energy into the talks".
He suggested the US might lift sanctions against the Sudanese government, which it accuses of sponsoring terrorism, as a reward for a successful outcome.
Under the framework, southerners will vote at the end of the six-year transition period on whether to remain with the north or secede into a separate state.
But three issues remain before any deal is signed - the division of wealth, primarily oil revenues, during the interim period; power- sharing; and the fate of three contested areas. Analysts say it is unlikely these issues will be resolved before Christmas.
But even if a deal is signed, peace is not guaranteed. A fresh rebellion threatens Khartoum in the western province of Darfur. Southern warlords outside the talks could yet cause trouble.
And if politics collapse during the transition, both sides will retain their standing armies in place - just in case.