KHARTOUM, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Sovereign Council on Thursday decided to drop the death penalty against eight members of an armed group in Darfur.

"The council decided to drop the death penalty against eight members of Sudan's Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdul-Wahid Nur," Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman, spokesman of the council, told reporters.

According to him, the council also decided to release 18 prisoners of armed groups.

He added that a committee assigned by the Sovereign Council has been in contact with the armed movements from Sudan's Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions to implement the agreement reached prior to a round of peace talks.

On Sept. 11, Sudan's government and the armed groups signed a declaration of principle and agreed to hold peace talks on Oct. 14 to address the war issues in the country.

The declaration was reached after talks held in South Sudan's capital Juba between representatives of the Sudan government and the armed groups, under a mediation initiative by South Sudan's president.

The two sides also agreed to form specialized committees to arrange for the peace negotiations, follow up procedures of releasing the prisoners of war, as well as supervise measures of cessation of hostilities.