JUBA    -    The warring parties in Sudan have agreed to a seven-day truce start­ing May 4, in a phone conversation with South Sudan's Presi­dent Salva Kiir, the for­eign ministry in Juba said on Tuesday, rais­ing hopes of an end to weeks of bloodshed.

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned ri­val, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rap­id Support Forces, “have agreed in principle for a seven-day truce from May 4th to 11th,” the ministry said in a statement.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded in the fighting as air strikes and artillery exchanges have pounded swathes of greater Khartoum, sparking the ex­odus of thousands of Sudanese to neighbouring countries. The two sides have also agreed “to name their representatives to peace talks to be held at any venue of their choice”, the statement from Juba said.

Kiir was speaking to Burhan and Daglo as part of an initiative by the East African regional bloc IGAD (In­ter-Governmental Authority on De­velopment), which has been pushing for an end to the fighting, echoing calls by the African Union and the in­ternational community.