An end to the fighting, the delivery of humanitarian relief to civil populations and the gradual building of confidence between the parties are the objectives of the ceasefire agreement

Joint statement by US and Swiss negotiators

Diplomats hope that the truce will lead to a wider settlement of the 9-year conflict that has claimed two million lives in the poverty-stricken state.

The agreement will come into force 72 hours after signature and will be applied under the supervision of a joint military commission.

Civilians will be allowed to move freely in the area, which is about 80,000 sq km, and international aid deliveries will be allowed by air.

Peace hopes

Sudan's Minister of Foreign Relations, Mustafa Uthman Isma'al, said the government wanted to see the ceasefire apply across the whole country.

Sudanese war

2m dead in 19 years 158,000 people recently forced from their homes in Nuba Islamic government faces mainly Christian and animist rebels conflict zone centres on strategic oil pipeline

"This step has to be followed by other steps because we want peace in all regions of Sudan, and not just in the Nuba Mountains," he said.

A Cairo-based SPLA spokesman, Yasser Arman, also welcomed the agreement as a first step:

"It is an excellent step, but it is limited. We are still waiting to find a comprehensive settlement."

The Swiss and US sides issued a joint statement saying the success of the agreement was now down to Sudan:

"Ultimately, it is up to the parties to make this ceasefire work."

Closed doors

Few details have been given about the nature of the negotiations.

The Swiss Government insisted the talks were kept private in order to facilitate what they described as "open and substantial exchanges between the two parties".

This is not the first time that there have been secret meetings in Switzerland between political factions and rebel groups from Sudan, but it is the first time that negotiations have achieved an official agreement.

A spokesman for the Swiss Government said the talks had closed with a feeling of "great satisfaction" that the two sides had signed a ceasefire.