The Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) signed an agreement on wealth sharing in Naivasha Wednesday. 

The agreement covers the roughly equal share of oil revenue and non-oil revenue, the management of oil sector, and the monetary authority in the country, according to the agreement.

Sudanese First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, SPLA leader John Garang, as well as Kenyan Minister for Foreign Affairs Kalonzo Musyoka were present at the signing ceremony.

"This is a historical day in the process of the Sudan peace talks," the Sudanese vice president said, adding that "it spells an end of a long episode of war in our country."

Meanwhile, SPLA leader Garang said "it is a major achievement that would lead us closer to the last agreement. The Sudan peace process is now truly certain and irreversible."

Garang said that he was confident that both sides will reach a comprehensive peace agreement "sooner or later."

"Wealth sharing was considered as one of the most difficult issues (of the Sudan peace process) until they touch it, so it was significant," Lazaro Sumbeiywo, Kenyan special envoy for peace in the Sudan and chief mediator, told Xinhua.

Wealth sharing, along with power sharing and the three disputed areas, are the three major outstanding issues in the Sudan peace process.

The Sudanese civil war started as the SPLA took up arms fighting for self-determination in the southern part of the country in 1983.

The conflict has left some 2 million people dead, mostly through war-induced famine and diseases.

The Sudanese government and the SPLA began peace talks in July 2002 in Kenya, aimed at ending the longest civil war on the continent, under the auspices of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a seven-member regional group in east Africa, consisting of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Eritrea, Somali and the Sudan.

Both parties used to commit to reaching a final deal by the end of 2003 during the ongoing peace talks held in Naivasha, about 90 km northwest of the capital Nairobi.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2004)