The power sharing government in Sudan has signed a peace agreement with the country’s five key rebel groups.
This is a significant step towards resolving deep-rooted conflicts that raged under former leader Omar al-Bashir.
The civilian and military leaders sharing power after Bashir’s overthrow in April 2019 say “putting an end to the decades-long internal conflicts is a topmost priority of a 39-month transition.”
Witnesses stated that that deal, signed in the South Sudanese capital Juba, on Monday August 31, 2020, offers rebel groups political representation and devolved powers, integration into the security forces, economic and land rights and the chance of return for displaced people.
The groups that signed include the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Minni Minawi’s Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), both of the western region of Darfur, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Malik Agar, present in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
More than 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed and 2.5 million displaced after the conflict in Darfur spread after 2003 as government forces and mainly Arab militia moved to repress mostly non-Arab rebels.
