JUBA: The Sudanese government and rebel groups on Saturday signed a landmark peace deal aimed at ending decades of war in which hundreds of thousands died.
Ululs and cheers sounded one by one, representatives of the transitional government and rebel groups signed the agreement, 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 are done with the mission,” said Tut Gatluak, head of the South Sudanese Mediation Team shortly before the signing took place.
Ending Sudan’s internal conflicts has been a top priority for the transitional government, which has been in power since last year’s ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in a popular pro-democracy uprising.
Sudanese paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo – best known by his nickname “Hemeti” – signed the agreement on behalf of Khartoum.
A representative of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and others from the coalition groups also signed.
The SRF consists of rebel groups from the war-torn western Darfur region as well as the southern states of the Blue Nile and southern Kordofan.
Guarantors of the agreement from Chad, Qatar, Egypt, the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations also put their names in the agreement.
The agreement covers a range of difficult issues, ranging from ownership of land, compensation and indemnity to wealth and power sharing 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.
– ‘A historic day’ –
Sudan has been torn apart by several conflicts between the Arab-dominated government led by Bashir for three decades and rebels from non-Arab ethnic groups in its remote regions.
In Sudan’s vast rural areas, resident farmers with ethnic minorities have often competed for scarce resources with Arab shepherds, who have often been backed by Khartoum.
Several civil wars have raged since independence in 1956, including the 1983-2005 war that led to secession in the south.
The devastating war in Darfur from 2003 left at least 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced in its early years, according to the UN.
“This signing means that we left the war behind. This agreement means democracy, justice, it means freedom in Sudan, so we are very happy … with this peace agreement, the economy of Sudan will flourish again,” Ismail Jalab, one said senior member of SRF to AFP.
The peace talks were mediated by South Sudan, whose leaders themselves fought Khartoum as rebels for decades before gaining independence in 2011, and who are still fighting 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 of Independence.
Entertainers 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 will end the protracted conflict … it is well known that Sudan’s independence is not stable, there is no socio-economic development due to marginalization,” he said. year-old Abdal Aziz, who fled Darfur six years ago and has lived as a refugee in South Sudan.
– ‘Challenges and pitfalls’ –
The leaders of Sudan, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Head of the Transitional Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and General Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Chief of the Sudan Joint Military-Civilian Sovereignty Council, attended the ceremony.
Heads of state from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Chad were also there.
Upon his arrival, Hamdok said that “peace will open wide horizons for development, progress and prosperity.
“The peace-building process faces various challenges and pitfalls that we can overcome through concerted action and joint action,” he said.
Mini Arko Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a member of the SRF, said Sudan’s troubled economy and “fragile political situation” were tests facing the deal.
The economy has suffered from the country’s inclusion on Washington’s terrorist list, decades-long US sanctions and the 2011 secession of the country’s oil-rich south, which deprived the north of three-quarters of its oil reserves.
Economic difficulties triggered protests against Bashir and remain a pressing concern – food prices have tripled in the past year and the Sudanese pound has fallen dramatically.
One of the holdout groups, the Darfur-based Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Abdelwahid Nour, launched an attack on Monday, the army said.
Another, the southern Kordofan-based wing of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, has signed a separate ceasefire.
