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“I congratulate everyone in Sudan on a historic and comprehensive peace agreement,” said Gibril Ibrahim, leader of the rebel group JEM, according to the AFP news agency.
The signing of the peace agreement took place in Juba, in neighboring South Sudan, which acted as a mediator in the conflict.
Among the groups that have signed the agreement are the umbrella organization Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), the Movement for Justice and Equality (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), writes the Reuters news agency.
Thousands of lives
The last two groups are often described as dominated by black Sudanese. In 2003, they accused the Arab-dominated central government of Khartoum of marginalizing the people of Darfur and supporting the ravages of the militia. It was the prelude to the conflict in Darfur, which according to the UN claimed almost 300,000 lives.
“We have started a real shift in Sudan from dictatorship to democracy,” Sudan’s Information Minister Faisal Mohammad Salih said of the ceremony in Juba.
“Long way”
At the same time, the Minister acknowledged that there is still a long way to go and that difficulties await when the agreement is translated from paper to reality.
– But the political will exists, added Faisal Mohammed Salih, according to AFP.
In April last year, Sudan’s former dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted after months of popular protests. Demonstrations then continued against the military junta that installed itself in al-Bashir’s place.
In July last year alone, the military junta and an alliance of opposition groups reached an agreement on co-government, with the stated goal of Sudan holding democratic elections in 2022.
Tina Magnergård Bjers / TT
Helena Nordenberg / TT
On August 17, 2019, Sudan embarked on the path to a transition to a civilian government, as the civilian and military protest movement agreed to share power during a transitional period before democratic elections are held.
President Omar al-Bashir has been in power in Sudan for about 30 years. The despotic leader seized power in the country during a coup in 1989.
After months of widespread popular protests, he was forced to resign on April 11 last year, and a transitional government was appointed shortly after.
al-Bashir has been in jail since he was convicted of corruption last year. In March 2009, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued its first arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir. The indictment was extended in 2010. In total, he is charged with two counts of war crimes, five counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of genocide in Darfur.
Sources: al-Jazeera, Landguiden / UI and more
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