* Former rebel leader joins government.
Sudan People's Liberation Movement leader John Garang from the "Christian south" has been sworn in as a second vice-president. The other vice-president, Ali Taha, and the president, Omar al-Bashir, are both from the north. They have signed a power-sharing constitution at a ceremony in the capital, Khartoum. Southern Sudan is to be given some autonomy and former rebels are due to take up cabinet seats next month. The new constitution is a key aspect of a peace deal agreed in January. Under the peace deal, Sudan's new oil wealth will be shared between north and south, Islamic Sharia law will not be applied in the south and the south will hold a referendum on secession in six years' time. One-and-a-half million people died in the conflict between the mainly Muslim north and Christian south, which lasted 21 years. The deal is welcomed internationally, in the hope that it will endure. At the same time, Sudan is being urged to do more to end the conflict in Darfur in the west, and to improve security and relief efforts there.

* Darfur.
The Sudanese government and two rebel groups have agreed on ground rules for efforts to resolve the conflict in Darfur. More than two million have fled their homes in Darfur and at least 180,000 have died in what the UN has described as "war crimes" and the US has called genocide. They have signed a declaration of principles after four weeks of African Union sponsored negotiations in Nigeria which aim to find African solutions to African problems. The declaration agrees to the upholding of democracy, the independence of the judiciary, "justice and equality for all, regardless of ethnicity, religion and gender", and a degree of devolution and wealth distribution.

Kofi Annan has criticised the developed world for being too slow to respond to the Darfur crisis. He has made a point of continuing to demand international action. Darfur has become the first case referred by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court, which may have led to the decline in violence in recent months.

* Trouble out east.
In the east there are renewed outbursts of fighting, as the Beja ethnic group there express their own frustrations at marginalisation and under-development of the area, exacerbated by recent conflict. Recent visits there discovered no functioning health or education system, high malnutrition, infectious diseases out of control, and literacy rates of less than 5%. There is a fear that this could be the next flashpoint if issues are not dealt with.

* Prayer for Darfur
Across the US, this weekend, 15-17 July, is a Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Victims of Genocide in Darfur, as part of the effort to encourage action to stop the killing.

* Other links
Words from a wanderer blog of a Christian project worker among the people of Darfur.
Joseph Hakim, a Sudanese Christian serving God and writing about African issues.
Save Darfur
Sudan Watch
Passion of the Present
BBC : Sudan in depth, with helpful articles, including this introduction to understanding the issues.
Diary Bill Lorenz of the IOM is keeping a diary for the BBC News website as he helps thousands of Sudanese trek home to Raga in the south-west, following the deal to end the 21-year war.

Tags: sudan africa darfur