Sudan celebrates agreement between opposition and military on power-sharing deal

Sudan’s ruling military council and a coalition of opposition and protest groups agreed provisionally to share power for 3 years, bringing thousands onto the streets to hail a first step towards ending decades of dictatorship.

The deal, revived hopes for a peaceful transition of power in a country plagued by internal conflicts and years of economic crisis that helped to trigger the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in April.

Relations between the military council that took over from Bashir and the Forces for Freedom and Change alliance broke down when security forces killed dozens as they cleared a sit-in on June 3.

But after huge protests against the military, African mediators brokered a return to direct talks. Both sides agreed to establish a joint military-civilian sovereign council that will rule the country by rotation “for a period of three years or slightly more”, Mohamed Hassan Lebatt, African Union (AU) mediator, said at a press conference on Friday.

The ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the civilian leaders also agreed to launch a “transparent and independent investigation” into the violence that began on June 3 when scores of pro-democracy demonstrators were killed in a brutal military crackdown on a protest camp in the capital, Khartoum.

Thousands across Khartoum took to streets in jubilation, waving Sudanese flags, dancing and embracing one another.