KHARTOUM, November 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Hours after the government and rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed an agreement extending an ongoing ceasefire for two months, reports suggested a SPLM delegation would travel to Khartoum in the next few days for the first time since civil war broke out in 1983.

The trip by members of the rebels' peace negotiating team is a "gesture of goodwill" before next month's meeting between SPLM leader John Garang and First Vice President Ali Osman Taha, rebel spokesman Yassir Saeed Arman said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) Saturday, November 29.

The SPLM delegation will meet with various political parties, including the ruling National Congress, and civil groups, Arman was quoted as saying by the independent Akhbar Al Youm daily.

The visit is intended to lay the groundwork for the SPLM to declare itself a political party amid growing signs the war is drawing to a close and alert rebel supporters in the capital to operate as a party, he said.

He said that the delegation would leave for Khartoum as soon as it received final government approval, adding that they would travel via and be accompanied by officials from an unnamed neighboring country to guarantee their safety.

The SPLM has already initiated contacts with Khartoum-based political groups to open consultations on establishing a national political consensus, the spokesman said.

Sudanese government officials reportedly welcomed the SPLM visit to Khartoum as "a positive step."

"It is a positive step and will have a tremendous effect in the process of confidence-building and normalization of relations between the two parties," a senior official was quoted as telling the independent Al Rai Al Aam, which is close to government circles.

The spokesman of the government's delegation to peace talks taking place in Kenya, Sayyed al-Khatib, also told the independent Al Ayam daily he welcomed the visit, but said the government was "still waiting for an answer" to its request to visit SPLM-held areas in the south.

On Friday, November 28, and only two days before the peace talks resume in Naivasha, Kenya, the government and the SPLM rebels agreed to extend an ongoing ceasefire by two months.

"We have now extended the cessation of hostilities for two more months," said regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) chief mediator Lazaro Sumbeiywo during a signing ceremony between SPLM spokesman Samson Kwaje and Sudanese ambassador to Kenya Ali Abdelrehman Nimeri.

"It is because we anticipate that we will have a comprehensive peace agreement by the end of the year. That is why we are signing for two months and not the traditional three months," he elaborated.

"We hope to have a complete ceasefire by the end of January," the mediator said, adding that IGAD has managed to deploy the Verification and Monitoring Team (VMT) in areas that were prone of attacks.

The ceasefire, which was renewed for three months last September, was due to expire on November 30.

The chief mediator said he had received reports of two violations from both sides, but investigations could not establish the veracity of the accusations involving troop movements.

"It is important that whenever we sign an agreement, it is implemented," Sumbeiywo told both sides, but commended them for having managed to "maintain the cessation of hostilities in the Sudan."

Nimeri and Kwaje welcomed the extension and pledged commitment to reach a final peace settlement by the end of the year.

"We are in a stage of preparing for peace," Nimeri said.

The civil war has killed at least 1.5 million people and displaced more than four million others.

Both sides are due to resume peace talks in Kenya from November 30, amid heightened expectations and repeated promises that a final peace accord will be reached by the end of the year.