The Sudanese government and rebel leaders signed a peace deal this Saturday, October 3, in Juba, South Sudan, to end 17 years of deadly war.
From our correspondent in the region,
This historic agreement is the formal successor progress achieved in August last year. The two parties already agreed on the main points of this historic agreement. Everyhad put his initials on the documentthen negotiations continued until the formal signing, which took place at noon on Saturday.
The August text contained a three-year transition to the implementation of power-sharing. Sudan Revolutionary Front (SFR), a coalition of rebel groups active in various regions of the country, was to achieve positions at national level: Sovereign Council, Government, Legislative Council … A major conference on administrative divisions and their competencies was expected before for sixty days.
Thereafter, each movement had to obtain concessions of power in their region of origin. In Darfur, for example, the rebels were to gain local positions and form a joint force of 12,000 with the official army. The same applies to South Kordofan and Blue Nile, where the SPLM-Nord (Popular Movement for Liberation of Sudan) in Malik Agar had negotiated autonomy for the area and obtained positions in the government and in administrative bodies.
Two rebel groups did not sign
However, this agreement does not necessarily mean that Sudan will be fully pacified. In fact, two rebel groups did not sign it: the SPLM, led by Abdelaziz el-Helou, who is present in the Nuba Mountains, and the Blue Nile and SLM (Sudan Liberation Army) by Abdel Wahid Nur. operating in Darfur.
They have slightly more radical views, and they often contest the power of mediation. There is still a separate dialogue. On September 3, for example, the Khartoum and al-Helou factions signed an agreement to end hostilities. The two parties even met today in Juba, where the agreement has just been signed. They said the peace process should be completed and dialogue resumed.
The absence of these signatures could weaken the signed agreement because they are two powerful groups that are the only ones controlling certain parts of Sudan’s territory. El-Helou, for example, wants a secular state that does not make laws about religion, but also a right to self-determination for the south.
Abdel Wahid Nur, he does not want to negotiate until Darfur’s security and stability are restored. In addition, the group regularly continues to confront the security forces.
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