Sudan extends ceasefire in three conflict states

Sudan extended a unilateral ceasefire with rebels fighting to oust the government, the presidential palace said in a decree yesterday.

The government has been fighting rebels in Darfur in western Sudan since 2003, but the level of violence has been in decline for three years.

In South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, northern members of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army who remained after South Sudan gained independence have kept up the fight against Omar Hassan al-bashir’s rule.