(OSLO) - Sudan on Tuesday told donor countries, at a meeting to boost peace efforts, that they had not given enough cash to get the African country out of the grip of its longstanding conflicts.

"It is evident that much has been accomplished" since a January 2005 peace accord between southern and northern Sudan, Vice President Ali Osman Taha said at the second day of the donors conference.

"However we honestly feel what has been offered so far (since 2005) does not satisfy our national expectations and aspirations with the colossal demands of post-conflict reconstruction and recovery," he added.

The three-day meeting was to determine what progress has been made since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Khartoum government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and to raise funds to bolster reconstruction and development.

The European Union has pledged 300 million euros (465 million dollars) over six years and Norway 500 million dollars (322 million euros) over four years.

The EU sum for reconstruction in southern Sudan comes on top of humanitarian aid of more than 100 million euros already pledged for 2008, EU commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Louis Michel said.

Pledges from some 30 other countries and international organisations were to be announced on Wednesday.

The conference comes half-way through the 2005-2011 transition period outlined in the 2005 peace accord. Sudan is then to hold a referendum on whether southern Sudan can secede.

"The Sudanese people need to see the dividends of peace. They have already been waiting for too long," UN Deputy Secretary Asha-Rose Migiro said.

The peace accord ended a devastating civil war in Sudan's largely animist and Christian southern region, which raged over 21 years killing 1.5 million people.

During speeches in Oslo, numerous donors said there was still much to be done to implement the 2005 accord and expressed concerns over another civil war raging Sudan's western region of Darfur.

In April 2005, a first donors conference on Sudan in Oslo raised pledges of some 4.5 billion dollars over three years, exceeding the 2.6 billion requested.

But the aid initially dedicated to the north-south peace process was largely used to help the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

To avoid a repeat, Norwegian Development Cooperation Minister Erik Solheim called for more targeted pledges.

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