Leaders of the Sudanese interim government of national unity were sworn in here on Saturday, marking the beginning of a six-year transitional period and the opening of a new chapter of peace in the history of the largest African country.

At a ceremony in the presidential palace, Sudanese resident Omar Hassan al-Bashir signed a new interim constitution and took his oath of office as president of the interim government.

John Garang, head of the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), was sworn in as first vice president and Ali Othman Mohammed Taha, Sudan's former first vice president, was sworn in as second vice president.

Under the interim constitution, Garang will head an autonomous administration in the mainly Christian and animist south during the interim period leading up to a promised referendum on secession.

The Khartoum government and the SPLM signed a peace deal on Jan. 9 in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to end a 21-year and Africa's longest civil war in the south.

Speaking at the ceremony, Omar al-Bashir called on the Sudanese people to overcome the war inflicted bitterness and wounds.

He said it was important to remove landmines from mind and replace them with forgiveness, love and unity.

He reiterated commitment to ensure an equal share of oil wealth between the north and the south in accordance with the southern Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

He also promised to spare no effort to resolve the conflict in the western region of Darfur after his government signed a declaration of principles with two Darfur rebel groups earlier this month in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

John Garang, who arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Friday for the first time since a rebellion stated in 1983 for self-determination in the south, said his presence in Khartoum was a real signal that the war in southern Sudan was over.

The conflict had reportedly left some 2 million people dead, mostly from war-induced famine and diseases.

The southern peace deal provides for an interim government and arrangements to share power and wealth.

But it does not cover the separate conflict in Darfur, where non-Arab ethnic groups took up arms in early 2003 to press demands for an end to discrimination by Khartoum.

The sworn-in ceremony was witnessed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Norwegian Minister of International Cooperation Hilde Johnson and United States Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and other foreign guests.

Annan said that the national unity is incomplete in Sudan unless conflicts in Darfur and eastern Sudan are settled.

"The peace process between north and south must be made ever better and it will not be unless it takes place in the east and in the west as well," Annan said at the sworn-in ceremony.

He said that the task of the interim government must be to ensure that peace extends to the whole nation of Sudan.

He pointed out that as an immediate priority, therefore, the government of national unity must work to resolve the conflicts in Darfur and eastern Sudan.

Annan called on all armed groups that have not yet joined the national process of unity as well as all political parties to join hand to make peace a reality through non-violence and democracy.

"Dear friends, for the first time in many years, national unity for all the people of Sudan is now within reach," the top UN official said.

Source: Xinhua