<p class="title">South Sudan President Salva Kiir and arch-foe Riek Machar agreed Wednesday to a "permanent" ceasefire to take effect within 72 hours, raising hopes of a deal to end their country's devastating war.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All parties have agreed on a permanent ceasefire within 72 hours of signing the Khartoum Document," Sudan's Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed announced following talks in the Sudanese capital.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kiir and Machar then signed the document in the presence of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The latest push for peace in South Sudan comes as part of a fresh bid launched by East African leaders with the two fighting factions facing a looming deadline to avert UN sanctions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Several previous ceasefire agreements have been violated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Khartoum negotiations came after a round of talks brokered by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week in Addis Ababa faltered.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On arriving in Khartoum, Kiir and Machar expressed their readiness to talk peace as the dialogue opened in the presence of Bashir and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Sudan's war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about four million, broke out in December 2013 when Kiir accused his then-deputy Machar of plotting a coup, dashing the optimism that accompanied independence from Sudan just two years earlier.</p>
<p class="title">South Sudan President Salva Kiir and arch-foe Riek Machar agreed Wednesday to a "permanent" ceasefire to take effect within 72 hours, raising hopes of a deal to end their country's devastating war.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All parties have agreed on a permanent ceasefire within 72 hours of signing the Khartoum Document," Sudan's Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed announced following talks in the Sudanese capital.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kiir and Machar then signed the document in the presence of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The latest push for peace in South Sudan comes as part of a fresh bid launched by East African leaders with the two fighting factions facing a looming deadline to avert UN sanctions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Several previous ceasefire agreements have been violated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Khartoum negotiations came after a round of talks brokered by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week in Addis Ababa faltered.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On arriving in Khartoum, Kiir and Machar expressed their readiness to talk peace as the dialogue opened in the presence of Bashir and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Sudan's war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about four million, broke out in December 2013 when Kiir accused his then-deputy Machar of plotting a coup, dashing the optimism that accompanied independence from Sudan just two years earlier.</p>