Sudan has agreed a ceasefire with Darfur's most powerful rebel group as part of an agreement to 'heal' the war in the western region.
The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said the framework agreement reached in the Chadian capital N'Djamena was not a final peace deal.
They said it set out the terms for negotiations that could still fail if it saw signs of bad faith from Khartoum.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said he would cancel death sentences handed out to JEM prisoners and free 30% of them immediately.
More than 100 men were sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of taking part in a JEM attack on Khartoum in 2008.
Mr Bashir told state television: 'Today we signed an agreement between the government and JEM in N'Djamena, and in N'Djamena we heal the war in Darfur.'
The Sudanese government has agreed to a series of ceasefires during the seven-year conflict, but some have fallen apart days after their signing, and distrust between the warring parties remains deep.
Talks between JEM and Sudan, hosted in Qatar, have been stalled for months.
However, there has been a flurry of activity in recent days against a background of thawing relations between Sudan and Chad, which borders Darfur.
