Sudan's war-weary southerners celebrate peace deal

JUBA, SUDAN - White peace flags fluttered from houses, shops and cars across this rundown regional capital of southern Sudan as people embraced and called for sweets to celebrate a deal ending 21 years of war with the north.

Radios in homes and in Juba's listless shops blared out the speeches of Sudanese leaders in Kenya on Sunday for the official signing ceremony of a peace deal southerners hope will bring development, trade and lift them from poverty.

"It's done, let's drink something, or have some sweets," said Mohamed Ahmed to his friends sitting in his shop in Juba listening to the ceremony in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

But years of war meant there were few sweets or drinks to be had, although the crowd shook hands and embraced each other.

Many were not aware of details of the deal in Juba between the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), but the idea of peace was enough to prompt celebrations.

Under the deal, southerners will vote on secession after a six-year interim period and the south will receive half of Sudan's oil revenues, which mainly comes from southern fields.

"Today there is peace, so the bus ride should be free," said Sandy Birra playfully as she got onto a bus in Juba, which will be the south's administrative capital.

Juba was under government control despite repeated SPLA efforts to capture it, but was surrounded by SPLA territory.

Close to the borders of Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the town has been largely cut off from its key trading routes during fighting that claimed more than 2 million lives and forced more than 4 million from their homes.

The Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army sporadically raided nearby villages.

Women dressed in bright white wraps made their way down the dusty streets to the churches of this mainly Christian town, to attend a peace march to celebrate the signing.

Traders listened intently to news broadcasts, yearning for a revival in business across borders and between southern towns, where there are few tarmac roads and little infrastructure.

"I'm so happy because now we don't have to fly our goods in, we can use the roads and everything will open up," said 36-year-old trader Obeid Tito.

Political leaders sounded a note of caution.

Juba's governor Clement Wani Konya, said southerners were to blame for the failure of a peace deal which signalled a brief respite in the war in 1972.

"We made the peace deal fail last time because we the people did not protect the peace," he told the cheering crowd amassed outside the austere stone All Saints Cathedral in central Juba. "We must not repeat the same mistake this time."

Cardinal Michael Lugor led the crowd in prayers for lasting peace, chanting hymns and dancing. Northerners present joined in hesitantly.

"Sudan has been sick for 38 years and thank God President (Omar Hassan) al-Bashir has found an appropriate doctor for it," he said.

Bashir will visit Juba on Monday in the first direct flight from Nairobi to Juba since the war began, said Riak Gai, president of the current southern government.

An SPLA delegation will accompany him led by one of Garang's deputies Riak Machar.

But even in this isolated southern town, there were reminders that Sunday's deal does not end another conflict that erupted in 2003 in Sudan's western Darfur region.

Alim Ismail Abbas, originally from Darfur, said he hoped for better days in Juba and in his home region.

"We will get development here now, and the deal here should solve the problems in my area too," he said.

- REUTERS