Sudan's government and its southern rebel foes agreed on Monday at their peace talks in east African country Kenya on the sticking issue of wealth sharing, a government spokesman announced. 

Government spokesman Sayed Al-Khatib told a press briefing that the agreement covers oil revenues, monetary authority and the rebuilding of the south.

Sudanese Vice President Othman Mohammad Taha and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) leader John Garang attended the press briefing.

"We are glad to inform our people all over the Sudan and the international community that we have reached an agreement on wealth sharing," also said a joint statement.

The negotiating teams returned to the table Friday after one-day new year break.

Sudan's prolonged civil war has killed two million people and uprooted four million others, pitting the Islamist government in Khartoum against rebels in the south, which is mainly animist or Christian.

Disputes over oil, ethnicity and ideology have complicated the conflict. Observers said the Monday's wealth-sharing deal will further pave the way for a comprehensive peace agreement between the two sides.

But it still leaves two other topics to be settled before a final peace can be signed -- sharing power and the status of three contested areas. 

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2004)