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WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush called on Sudan's government on Thursday to end its 19-year civil war against rebels in the south, saying it "cannot continue to talk peace but make war."

Bush made the comments, which echoed a written statement he issued in May, at a dinner where he announced plans to visit Africa next year and called on the continent to "put an end to regional wars that take tens of thousands of lives each year."

The strife in Sudan, which pits the government in the mostly Muslim, Arab north against rebels fighting for more autonomy for the mostly Christian or animist south, has killed 2 million people in the North African country.

"Since September the 11th, there's no question the government of Sudan has made some useful contributions in cracking down on terror," Bush said. "But Sudan can and must do more.

"Sudan's government must understand that ending its sponsorship of terror outside Sudan is no substitute for efforts to stop war inside Sudan," the U.S. president added. "Sudan's government cannot continue to talk peace but make war, must not continue to block and manipulate U.N. food deliveries and must not allow slavery to persist."

Bush said the United States would continue to work for peace in Sudan, saying his policy aimed "to end Sudan's sponsorship of terror, and to promote human rights and the foundations of a just peace within Sudan itself."

Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, Bush's peace envoy, helped forge a cease-fire in Sudan and last month wrote a report calling for a "major push" to end the civil war, dismissing the idea of secession for southern Sudan and recommending Khartoum share oil revenues with its foes. Nampa-Reuters

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