The World - News from Dec. 2, 1988

Sudan’s coalition government has endorsed an agreement with southern rebels to end a five-year-old civil war that has killed tens of thousands and created a million refugees, state radio said. Prime Minister Sadek Mahdi, at a news conference preceding Radio Omdurman’s report, did not mention government acceptance of the accord. He did say that rebel representatives will sit on committees he is forming to prepare for a constitutional conference and to supervise implementation of the accord, which was signed Nov. 16 by representatives of the rebels and the principal party in the ruling coalition. The accord must still be approved by Parliament.