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ALREADY: SudanThe government and rebel groups signed a historic peace agreement on Saturday aimed at ending decades of war in which hundreds of thousands died.
Shouts and cheers echoed as representatives of the transitional government and rebel groups signed the agreement one by one, a year after the peace talks began, at a ceremony in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.
“Today we have reached a peace agreement. We are happy. We have finished the mission,” said Tut Gatluak, head of South Sudan’s mediation team, shortly before the signing took place.
Ending Sudan’s internal conflicts has been a top priority for the transitional government, in power since the dictator’s overthrow last year. Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising in favor of democracy.
Sudanese paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, better known by his nickname “Hemeti”, signed the agreement on behalf of Khartoum.
A representative of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and other groups that make up the coalition also signed.
The SRF comprises rebel groups from the war-torn western region of Darfur, as well as the southern states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
Guarantors of the agreement of Chad, Qatar, Egypt, the African Union, the European Union and United Nations They also put their names on the agreement.
The agreement covers a number of sensitive issues, from land ownership, reparations and compensation to the sharing of wealth and power and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.
However, two other powerful rebel groups did not sign, reflecting the challenges still facing the peace process.
Sudan has been torn apart by multiple conflicts between the Arab-dominated government that was led by Bashir for three decades and rebels from non-Arab ethnic groups in its remote regions.
In Sudan’s vast rural areas, settled ethnic minority farmers have often competed for scarce resources with Arab herders, who have often been backed by Khartoum.
Several civil wars have raged since independence in 1956, including the 1983-2005 war that led to the secession of the south.
The devastating war in Darfur of 2003 left at least 300,000 dead and 2.5 million displaced in its early years, according to the UN.
“This signature means that we put the war behind us. This agreement means democracy, justice, it means freedom in Sudan, so we are very happy … with this peace agreement, the economy in Sudan will grow again,” Ismail Jalab, a senior SRF member told AFP.
The peace talks were mediated by South Sudan, whose own leaders fought Khartoum as rebels for decades before gaining independence in 2011 and are still struggling to bring peace to their own country.
The final signing ceremony was held at the John Garang | Mausoleum in Juba, the final resting place of the late leader of the war for independence.
Animators from South Sudan and Sudan performed for thousands of guests, many of them Sudanese refugees.
“This is a very historic day for us Sudanese because this peace is going to end the prolonged conflict … it is well known that since the independence of Sudan there has been no stability, no economic and social development due to marginalization,” he said 32 – One-year-old Abdal Aziz, who fled Darfur six years ago and has been living as a refugee in South Sudan.
Sudan’s leaders, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, head of the transitional sovereign council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of Sudan’s joint military-civil sovereign council, attended the ceremony.
Also present were heads of state from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Chad.
Upon his arrival, Hamdok said that “peace will open wide horizons for development, progress and prosperity.
“The peace-building process faces several challenges and pitfalls that we can overcome through concerted efforts and joint actions,” he said.
Mini Arko Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, which is a member of the SRF, said that Sudan’s turbulent economy and “fragile political situation” were tests against the deal.
The economy has suffered from the country’s inclusion on Washington’s terrorism blacklist, U.S. sanctions for decades, and the 2011 secession of the country’s oil-rich south, which deprived the north of three-quarters of its reserves. of oil.
Economic difficulties sparked protests against Bashir and they remain a pressing concern: Food prices have tripled in the past year and the Sudanese pound has depreciated dramatically.
One of the resistance groups, the Darfur-based Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Abdelwahid Nour, launched an attack on Monday, the army said.
Another, the South Kordofan-based wing of the North Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, has signed a separate ceasefire.
