This is a text of a joint statement issued on Saturday after talks ended, published by the official Sudan News Agency (Suna) on 21 July:

The Joint Communique issued by the first session of the Political Committee Task Force:

• 1: The Government of Sudan (GOS), the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) - thereafter referred to as the parties - met in Machakos, Kenya, from 18 June to 20 July, 2002, under the auspices of the IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development] peace process.

  President Bashir in power since 1989

  The meeting was chaired by Lt-Gen Lazarus Sumbeiywo, the special envoy of the IGAD peace process in Sudan with assistance of the IGAD sub-committee's envoys, namely His Excellency Muhammad Umaro of Eritrea, HE Murad Musa of Ethiopia, HE Francis Butagaria of Uganda, observers from Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway and the United States of America.

• 2: The parties agreed to conduct discussions in accordance with an agenda based on the framework of the IGAD Declaration of Principles (DOP) and with a view to resolving the long-standing conflict that has afflicted Sudan.

• 3: The parties agreed that a peaceful and just resolution based on the unity of Sudan is their common objective, and that a military solution is neither viable nor desirable. They agreed to discuss the outstanding issues of state and religion, self-determination for the people of southern Sudan, power-sharing, wealth-sharing and human rights.

• 4: After lengthy discussion, the parties agreed to a single negotiating framework document, which states the principles to which the parties have already agreed, the transitional phase of the peace process and the political structures to be implemented through a constitutional framework.

  Rebel leader John Garang

• 5: The parties made substantial progress and specifically reached agreement on the two most contentious issues, namely: the right to self-determination for the people of south Sudan, and the state and religion. The parties also agreed on the preamble, principles and the transition process from the framework mentioned above, all of which will be incorporated into a final comprehensive peace agreement. They also signed a protocol and initialled the specific texts on these issues.

• 6: The parties agreed to continue negotiations on the other outstanding issues of power sharing, wealth sharing, human rights and cease-fire when negotiations resume in mid August 2002.

  Done at Nairobi on Saturday, 20 July, 2002.

  BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.