Summary

NAME: AFR DARF 20100221Ix TAPE: EF10/0165 IN_TIME: 10:11:34:17 DURATION: 00:01:51:10 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION DATELINE: Various - 20 Feb 2010 RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST Ndjamena, Chad ++MUTE++ 1 Chad''s President Idriss Deby greeting Sudan''s rebel Justice and Equality Movement leader Khalil Ibrahim and Mousa Feki, Chad''s foreign minister (in white) 2 Various of Khalil Ibrahim and Sudan government representative signing ceasefire agreement, sitting between them (in white) is Mousa Feki 3 Various of exchanging documents, shaking hands Khartoum, Sudan 4 SOUNDBITE (English) Joseph Malwal, government minister: The Sudanese people and their community, the people of Darfur and all of us must be happy that the peace and happiness is coming back to that part of Sudan and they will also enjoy the same peace that the southerners, the easterners and all the Sudanese have enjoyed 5 People waving hands at ceremony attended by president 6 SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese President: As a tribute to our brothers who have signed (the agreement) today, we have first of all revoked all the death sentences against our sons who took part in the attack against Omdurman (city attacked by rebels in May 2008) (crowd cheers, shouting ''Allahu Akbar'' or ''God is great'') and today, we will release 30 percent of the people on death row 7 Various of Khartoum skyline STORYLINE Darfur''s most powerful rebel group has initialed a truce with the Sudanese government, marking the rebel group''s return to peace talks aimed at ending the Darfur conflict The truce between the rebel Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese government takes effect immediately, Idriss Deby, Chad''s president, said on Saturday in a statement Justice and Equality Movement spokesman Ahmed Hussein said the deal initialed on Saturday was a framework agreement to guide future peace negotiations, including talks on a permanent cease-fire He said it will be formally signed in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday in the presence of Deby and the leaders of Sudan and Qatar The rebel group has been the most significant holdout in efforts to end the seven-year conflict in Darfur, in which 300,000 people have lost their lives to violence, disease and displacement The Justice and Equality Movement will take part in talks in Qatar which aim to reach a final agreement by March 15, Deby''s statement said In Sudan''s capital, Khartoum, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced he was pardoning members of the Justice and Equality Movement on death row who had been convicted for taking part in an attack close to Khartoum in May 2008 Al-Bashir told a campaign rally he had ordered the immediate release of 30 percent of those he had pardoned According to Sudanese law only the president can pardon someone on death row or commute his or her sentence The May 2008 attack on Khartoum''s twin city, Omdurman, was the closest a Darfur rebel group had reached the capital The government said more than 200 people were killed in the attack that shocked Sudan at the time Saturday''s developments come as Sudan and Chad have been working for months to improve relations soured by the spillover from the Darfur conflict, with each country accusing the other of supporting the other''s rebel groups The UN has said 27 (m) million were driven from their homes in Darfur in the fighting between ethnic African rebels and the government and Arab militias