Sudan's warring factions will extend a ceasefire when it expires at the end of June, the regional body mediating peace talks to end two decades of war said today.
"We will be signing an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding on hostilities on June 30th," a spokeswoman for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) told reporters.
She said the truce, intended to stop fighting while peace talks were in progress, is likely to be extended by six months.
IGAD is overseeing talks between the Khartoum government and rebels to end a conflict that has killed two million people.
Sudan's northern government has been fighting the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) since 1983. The conflict is over oil, religion, ideology and the right for the southern people to govern themselves.
Khartoum and the SPLA say they are committed to ending the war, but after a promising start last year, the peace talks have become mired in wrangling over how to carve up power and wealth in a post-war Sudan.
IGAD's top mediator said earlier this month a peace agreement would be ready for signing by both parties in August.