UN chief hails truce accord between Sudanese government, main rebel group

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday extended a welcome to a ceasefire agreement signed in Doha by the Sudanese government and the main rebel group in Darfur, a Sudanese region.

A statement, issued here by Ban's spokesman, said, "The secretary-general welcomes the Framework Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in Darfur, which was agreed by the government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on Feb. 20, 2010 in N'djamena and signed this evening in Doha."

"The ceasefire agreement represents an "important step towards an inclusive and comprehensive agreement for Darfur," the statement said, reiterating that it will "address the underlying causes of the conflict and the concerns of all Darfuruian communities."

"The secretary-general looks forward to the full implementation of the Agreement's provisions, and encourages all parties to engage in the inclusive Doha peace process with flexibility and political vision, and to agree on a definitive political settlement of the Darfur crisis," the statement said.

"The United Nations and AU-UN Joint Chief Mediator will continue to assist the parties in their efforts to achieve this important objective," the statement said.

Qatar, the mediator of the Darfur peace process, said it will donate 1 billion U.S. dollars in investment fund to help the development of the Darfur region.