Sudanese leaders and rebel commanders agreed Monday on a historic peace deal , a crucial step towards ending 17 years of conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed .
Leaders of the Sudan Revolutionary Front ( SRF) , an umbrella organisation of rebel groups from the western region of Darfur and the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile , raised their fists in celebration after inking the agreement .
Fighting in Darfur alone left around 300, 000 people dead after rebels took up arms there in 2003 , according to the United Nations, with former government leaders accused of carrying out genocide and of crimes against humanity.
Conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile erupted in 2011 , in the wake of South Sudan ’ s independence , resuming two decades of war.
“ I congratulate all in Sudan on reaching a historic comprehensive peace that addressed the roots of the problem and ended the war , God willing, ” said Gibril Ibrahim, commander of one of rebel groups , the Justice and Equality Movement ( JEM) .
He paid tribute to all those killed or affected by the long years of war .
Sudanese paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo — best known by his nickname “ Hemeti ” , and who commanded fighters in the war — signed the deal on behalf of Khartoum.
Daglo and the leaders of the rebel movements grouped together and shook hands — and briefly danced together .
“ We have started the real transformation of Sudan from dictatorship to democracy , ” Faisal Mohammed Salih , Sudan ’ s information minister, told AFP , at the ceremony in Juba , the capital of neighbouring South Sudan .
– First steps –
But while celebrating the deal , he said there was also still a long way to go .
“ We know that we are going to face some problems when we start to move this ( deal ) from paper to the ground … but we have that political will , ” Salih said .
Rebels fought troops deployed by now -toppled autocrat Omar al - Bashir , who is wanted by the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) over charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict .
Bashir , who is in jail in Khartoum convicted of corruption , is now on trial for the 1989 coup in which he grabbed power .
Sudan ’ s transitional authorities in February agreed Bashir be handed over to the ICC .
Human rights groups say Khartoum targeted suspected pro - rebel ethnic groups with a scorched earth policy , raping, killing , looting and burning villages .
The deal was “ initialled ” and not signed , as a way to leave the door open for two key holdout rebel groups to join in a “ final” agreement , officials said .
Forging peace with rebels has been a cornerstone of Sudan ’ s transitional government , which came to power in the months after the overthrow of Bashir in April 2019 .
Both General Abdel Fattah al - Burhan, head of a sovereign council , and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, were also at the ceremony in Juba .
Sudan ’ s rebels are largely drawn from non - Arab minority groups that long railed against Arab domination of the government in Khartoum under Bashir .
The agreement covers key issues around security , land ownership , transitional justice , power sharing , and the return of people who fled their homes because of fighting .
It also provides for the dismantling of rebel forces and the integration of their fighters into the national army .
Rebel members of the Sudan Liberation Movement ( SLM ) and the Sudan People ’ s Liberation Movement - North ( SPLM - N ) had provisionally initialled the agreement with the government late on Saturday.
However , an SLM faction led by Abdelwahid Nour and a wing of the SPLM -N headed by Abdelaziz al - Hilu refused to take part .
Malik Agar , rebel chief of the SPLM - N faction that agreed to the deal , called on his comrades still fighting to lay down their arms.
“ I announce from this platform the end of the war, ” Agar said in a speech , calling on Nour and Hilu to “ not miss this historic opportunity ” .
AFP
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