Sudan Government, Rebels Sign Oil-Sharing Agreement
Alisha Ryu

The Sudanese government and the country's southern rebels on Wednesday signed a key agreement on（就……签署重要协定） how to share the country's oil wealth, bringing the two sides one step closer to ending their two decades-long civil war.

Following a signing ceremony（签字仪式） in the Kenyan town of Naivasha, the leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, John Garang, hailed the agreement as a major achievement toward building lasting peace (建立持久的和平) in Sudan.

"It takes determination and hard decisions to achieve peace and the agreement we have just signed on wealth sharing reflects this determination and seriousness. This is indeed another hill that we have surmounted. And we will surmount（越过） all of the hills that are coming."

Mr. Garang and his Sudanese government counterpart, Vice President Ali Osman Taha, agreed Wednesday on a pact for the rebels to equally split（分割） oil and other revenue from southern Sudan with Khartoum during a six-year transition period of autonomy from the government.

The interim period is due to go into effect（生效） once a comprehensive peace accord is reached.

Africa's longest-running war（持续时间最长的战争） began in 1983 when the mainly Christian and animist southern rebels took up arms（拿起武器） against the predominantly Arab Muslim government in Khartoum. The rebels have been demanding greater equality and autonomy in the south ever since.

The struggle for control of Sudan's vast oil reserves, which are mainly located in the south, became fierce after Sudan became an oil exporter in 1999. Rebels and international human rights groups have long accused the government of brutally forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee oil-rich areas in the south.

The country currently earns an estimated $2 billion a year from its oil production of more than 250,000 barrels per day. Some experts believe that output could increase to 450,000 barrels in the next two years, provided the country can end the war and attract enough investment from major Western energy companies.

But two toughest issues of the peace process remain unresolved - how to share power and the status of three disputed regions in central Sudan.

Last month, disagreements over details of those issues caused the warring parties（交战各方） to miss their self-imposed end-of-year deadline to reach a comprehensive peace accord.