JUBA, Sudan - The African Union says Sudan's north and south have agreed to establish a jointly patrolled demilitarized border zone as Southern Sudan prepares to declare independence in July.

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Alex de Waal, who has facilitated negotiations on security issues between Sudan's north and south, said Tuesday that the parties agreed on the border zone Monday during talks in Ethiopia's capital.

The demilitarized zone will stretch across the 1,300 mile (2,100 kilometer) north-south border. The zone will stretch 6 miles (10 kilometers) north and south from the 1956 border, the tentative line drawn when Sudan became independent from Britain.

North and south Sudan fought a more than two-decade civil war that killed 2 million people.