Sudan's ruling military council and main opposition alliance have agreed on a constitutional declaration to pave the way for a transitional government, the African Union said early Saturday.

The agreement came after months of negotiations between the military council and the Alliance for Freedom and Change, which has led a countrywide protest movement.

"I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and international public opinion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declaration," Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, the African Union mediator, told reporters.

Lebatt said talks would resume on Saturday about a formal signing ceremony. No immediate details of the agreement were available.

The final agreement is meant to usher in a joint military-civilian body to rule the country for three years following the ouster of longtime strongman President Omar al-Bashir in April.

The generals and opposition had previously agreed to form a sovereign council composed of 11 members, five from the military and five from the opposition, plus one additional civilian agreed to by both sides.

Other areas of contention have included establishing control over the General Intelligence Service and the Rapid Support Forces, the country's most powerful paramilitary group.

The opposition has accused the two security forces of killing protesters, and has demanded that those responsible be held to account.

Every evening, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption Celebrations began overnight and carried on into Saturday morning

Sudan's ruling military council and main opposition coalition have agreed on a constitutional declaration which will pave the way for a new period of transitional government.

African Union mediator Mohamed Hassan Lebatt made the announcement early on Saturday, without giving any details.

Sudan has been in turmoil since the military ousted President Omar al-Bashir in April.

Protracted talks over the declaration have been held amid much violence.

The long-awaited declaration deal triggered celebrations in Sudan, which has been plunged into months of crisis.

Both sides signed a power-sharing accord in July, but demonstrators have been waiting since then for more details about the agreement.

Protests first broke out in December after Mr Bashir's government imposed emergency austerity measures. He was then overthrown by the military in April after prolonged protests outside the defence ministry in Khartoum.

Image copyright EPA Image caption There have been protests on the streets of Sudan for months

Demonstrators have since called for authority to be transferred to a civilian administration.

What does the declaration say?

The document outlines the terms of a three-year transitional period agreed last month by the military council and opposition leaders.

The power-sharing deal envisages a governing body of six civilians and five generals.

"I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and international public opinion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declaration," Mr Lebatt told reporters on Saturday.

He said further meetings would be held to work out the technical details of the signing ceremony, but did not provide any information about the agreement itself.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Sudan crisis: Schoolchildren fired on during protests

A draft of the declaration seen by Reuters news agency said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been accused of killing protesters, will now fall under the general command of the armed forces, and the intelligence service will be co-supervised by the sovereign council and the cabinet.

The deal on the declaration came after the military council announced that nine RSF soldiers had been dismissed and detained in connection with the killing of protesters, including four schoolchildren, this week.

The deaths had prompted mass demonstrations across the country and caused delays in the talks.

What do we know about the transition period?

The military and protesters have reached several agreements, with each side fleshing out new details as they try to overcome suspicion and build a working relationship.

They have so far agreed on the following:

Power-sharing will last for 39 months

A sovereign council, cabinet and legislative body will be formed

A general will head the council for the first 21 months, a civilian for the remaining 18

A prime minister, nominated by the pro-democracy movement, will head the cabinet

The ministers of defence and interior will be chosen by the military.

The long transition period is seen as a victory for the pro-democracy movement - the generals had threatened a snap election after the 3 June crackdown.

Demonstrators argue that Mr Bashir's regime is so deeply entrenched that it will take time to dismantle its political network and open the way for free and fair elections. </s> KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's military council and its main opposition coalition have agreed a constitutional declaration to usher in a new period of transitional government, African Union mediator for Sudan Mohamed Hassan Lebatt told a news conference in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The document, which outlines the powers and the relationship between the branches of the transitional government, comes after weeks of protracted negotiations brokered by the African Union and neighbouring Ethiopia amid sporadic bouts of violence in the capital Khartoum and other cities.

Lebatt said that the delegations will continue talks on Saturday over the technical details of the signature procedures but did not elaborate further on the contents of the declaration.

Sudan's stability is crucial for the security of a volatile region stretching from the Horn of Africa to Libya that is riven by conflict and power struggles.

This final agreement is meant to pave the way to a political transition after military leaders ousted former President Omar al-Bashir in April following months of protests against his rule.

Two key points of contention had been the role of Sudan's General Intelligence Service and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the country's most powerful paramilitary group.

According to a draft of the declaration seen by Reuters, the intelligence service will report to the cabinet and the sovereign council, the body that will rule the country in the transitional period, while the RSF will fall under the general command of the armed forces.

The sides had previously agreed that the sovereign council will be comprised of 11 members — five officers selected by the military council, five civilians chosen by the FFC and another civilian to be agreed upon by both sides. Its first leader will be from the military.

When the sovereign council is formed, the country's current ruling body, a transitional military council headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, RSF commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, will be dissolved.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. </s> Sudan's ruling military council and main opposition coalition have agreed on a constitutional declaration which will pave the way for a new period of transitional government.

The long-awaited declaration deal triggered celebrations in Sudan, which has been plunged into months of crisis.

Both sides signed a power-sharing accord in July, but demonstrators have been waiting since then for more details about the agreement.

Protests first broke out in December after Mr Bashir's government imposed emergency austerity measures. He was then overthrown by the military in April after prolonged protests outside the defence ministry in Khartoum.

The document outlines the terms of a three-year transitional period agreed last month by the military council and opposition leaders.

"I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and international public opinion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declaration," Mr Lebatt told reporters on Saturday.

He said further meetings would be held to work out the technical details of the signing ceremony, but did not provide any information about the agreement itself.

A draft of the declaration seen by Reuters news agency said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been accused of killing protesters, will now fall under the general command of the armed forces, and the intelligence service will be co-supervised by the sovereign council and the cabinet.

The deal on the declaration came after the military council announced that nine RSF soldiers had been dismissed and detained in connection with the killing of protesters, including four schoolchildren, this week.

The deaths had prompted mass demonstrations across the country and caused delays in the talks.

The military and protesters have reached several agreements, with each side fleshing out new details as they try to overcome suspicion and build a working relationship.

They have so far agreed on the following: </s> Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders reached a “full agreement” on the constitutional declaration, the African Union said, paving the way for transitioning to civilian rule.

The agreement came after prolonged negotiations between Sudan’s ruling military council and the Alliance for Freedom and Change which has been leading the protest movement across Sudan for months.

“I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and international public opinion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declaration,” AU mediator Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt told reporters.

Lebatt said meetings will be held to discuss a formal signing ceremony.

The main points of contention concerned the powers of the proposed joint civilian-military ruling body, the deployment of security forces and immunity for generals over protest-related violence.

Saturday’s announcement came after the military council announced nine paramilitaries had been arrested for killing four teenage demonstrators earlier this week as talks with protest leaders over the country’s future navigated a second day.

The move against the paramilitary men of the feared Rapid Support Forces stemmed from the fatal shooting of four schoolchildren and two other demonstrators during a rally against fuel and bread shortages in the city of Al-Obeid in North Kordofan on Monday.

The killings have sparked anger across Sudan.

On Thursday, four more protesters were shot dead in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman, just across the Nile from Khartoum, said doctors linked to the country’s protest movement.

“An investigation has been launched into the incident of Al-Obeid and seven members of the RSF were immediately dismissed and handed over to civilian judges for trial,” General Shamseddine Kabbashi, spokesman for the ruling military council, told reporters earlier on Friday.

He also said that measures will be taken against those responsible for Thursday’s violence. </s> After months of political turmoil, Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders have reached a “full agreement” on a constitutional declaration paving the way for a transition to civilian rule.

The document, which sits alongside the power-sharing deal signed on July 17, aims to form a combined civilian-military ruling body to oversee the formation of a transitional civilian government and parliament.

The transitional government is then to govern for a three-year transition period, the African Union said on Saturday.

This deal comes after prolonged negotiations between Sudan’s ruling military council and leaders of the protest movement that toppled veteran leader Omar al-Bashir in April.

“I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and international public opinion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declaration,”… </s> Sudan’s ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the main opposition coalition have reached an agreement to usher in a new period of a transitional government, the African Union (AU) said.

Mohamed Hassan Lebatt, the AU mediator for Sudan, said representatives from both sides – civilian pro-democracy groups and the military – will continue talks on Saturday over the technical details of the deal.

“I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and international public opinion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declaration,” Lebatt told a news conference in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The document, which outlines the powers and the relationships between the branches of the transitional government, comes after weeks of protracted negotiations brokered by the AU and neighbouring Ethiopia amid sporadic bouts of violence in the capital Khartoum and other cities.

Sudan has been in a state of political turmoil since the army removed veteran leader Omar al-Bashir in April, with dozens of demonstrators killed during street protests.

As news of the agreement emerged, people began gathering on Nile Street, the main avenue in the capital Khartoum, honking car horns and ululating in celebration.

“We have been waiting for a civilian state to seek fair retribution from the murderers of our sons,” one protester Somaiya Sadeq told AFP news agency.

“We’re victorious!” some people chanted while others sang the national anthem.

Legal and technical teams still need to establish a timeline for the declaration to come into effect and for the transitional government to be appointed.

Once the transitional government starts work, Sudan embarks on a three-year transition period expected to lead to elections.

Two key points of contention had been the role of Sudan’s General Intelligence Service and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the country’s most powerful paramilitary group.

According to a draft of the declaration seen by Reuters news agency, the intelligence service will report to the cabinet and the sovereign council, the body that will rule the country in the transitional period, while the RSF will fall under the general command of the armed forces.

The sides had previously agreed that the sovereign council will comprise 11 members – five officers selected by the TMC, five civilians chosen by the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition and another civilian to be agreed upon by both sides. Its first leader will be from the military.

When the sovereign council is formed, the TMC, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, RSF commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, will be dissolved.

The FFC alliance is expected to hold a press conference at 08:00 GMT to explain the details of the deal. </s> Sudanese pro-democracy supporters celebrate a final power-sharing agreement with the ruling military council Saturday, Aug 17, 2019, in the capital, Khartoum. The deal paves the way for a transition to civilian-led government following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in April. (AP Photo)

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s pro-democracy movement and ruling military council signed a final power-sharing agreement Saturday at a ceremony in the capital, Khartoum, after weeks of tortuous negotiations.

The historic deal paves the way for a transition to a civilian-led government after the military overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir months ago and the more recent deadly suppression of protests.

Earlier this month, the two sides initialed a constitutional document in the wake of international pressure and amid growing concerns that the political crisis that followed al-Bashir’s ouster could ignite civil war.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of the military council, called the signing a “victorious and historic day for our nation.”

“The revolution has achieved its goals,” he said, vowing the military would guarantee the transition to civilian rule.

Protest leader Mohammed Naji al-Asam said the two sides have ushered in a “new page” in Sudan’s history after three decades of “repression and corruption.”

The power-sharing deal creates a joint military and civilian sovereign council to rule for a little over three years until elections can be held. A military leader is to head the 11-member council for the first 21 months, followed by a civilian leader for the next 18. Lt. Gen. Shams el-Din Kabashi, spokesman for the military council, said Burhan would be the initial leader.

The agreement also establishes a Cabinet appointed by the activists, as well as a legislative body to be assembled within three months. The protest coalition is to have a majority in that body, as nominated by the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, a coalition of opposition parties and movements representing the protesters.

The two sides appeared to agree on the soundness of a deal that came about in part because of international pressure. Ethiopia and the African Union co-led mediation efforts between the military and protesters.

Many regional leaders and international envoys attended Saturday’s ceremony, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Attendees in the Friendship Hall where the ceremony took place received Ahmed with cheering and chanting.

But at least one analyst, Suliman Baldo, a senior researcher with the Enough Project, said the country will still face obstacles during the coming months of transition.

“Daunting challenges will face Sudan’s progress to democracy and sound governance, chief among them the survival of the elements of the former regime in the institutions of the transition,” Baldo said.

Still, the Sudanese celebrated in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country Saturday. Video posted online showed people celebrating in the streets in Darfur and the eastern province of Kassala.

Railway workers and other protesters had traveled to the capital Friday by train from Atbara, the northern transport hub where the uprising began in December.

The military overthrew al-Bashir in April following months of protests against his three-decade-long authoritarian rule. The protesters then remained in the streets, demanding a rapid transition to civilian leadership.

The ruling military council and the activists came under renewed pressure to reach an accord after security forces opened fire on student protesters on Aug. 1 in the city of Obeid, leaving six people dead. At least nine troops from the paramilitary Rapid Support forces were arrested over the killings.

In June, security forces violently dispersed the protesters’ main sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum, killing dozens of people and plunging the fragile transition into crisis. The power-sharing agreement includes the establishment of an independent investigation into the crackdown on protests, specifically the dispersal of the sit-in.

Former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, the leader of the opposition Umma party, said the deal was a “first step” in the democratic change until “fair” elections are held.

“Today is the day of transition to civilian rule. … The next stage will be a test for us, without exclusion. We will open the door so all people can participate,” said al-Mahdi, who led Sudan’s last freely elected government before an Islamist-backed military coup in 1989.

Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council, and protest leader Ahmad Rabie, who is a high school teacher, signed the deal. Both had initialed the documents earlier this month.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated the Sudanese people and looked forward to “engaging with and supporting the transitional governing institutions.”

The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change nominated a well-known economist, Abdalla Hamdok, to be prime minister during the transition. He served as the deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa since November 2011, and has yet to be confirmed by the sovereign council. The council’s members are to be announced Sunday, after which the ruling military council will immediately be disbanded.

The power-sharing deal has been criticized by the Sudan Revolutionary Front, an alliance of the largest rebel groups in Darfur. The rebels have stressed to protest leaders that the agreement did not include “basic principles” to achieve peace in Sudan. The deal calls for the government to reach a peace agreement with the rebels within six months.

The rebel alliance, which is part of the FDFC opposition coalition, wanted to include a peace document agreed on by the protest movement in the power-sharing deal. The rebel leaders have engaged in talks with other protest leaders to settle the disputed points. </s> KHARTOUM - Sudan’s ruling military council and a coalition of opposition and protest groups reached an agreement to share power during a transition period leading to elections, setting off street celebrations by thousands of people.

The two sides, which have held talks in Khartoum for the past two days, agreed to “establish a sovereign council by rotation between the military and civilians for a period of three years or slightly more,” African Union mediator Mohamed Hassan Lebatt said at a news conference.

They also agreed to form an independent technocratic government and to launch a transparent, independent investigation into violent events in recent weeks.

The two sides agreed to postpone the establishment of a legislative council. They had previously agreed that the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition would take two-thirds of a legislative council’s seats before security forces crushed a sit-in protest June 3, killing dozens, and talks collapsed.

The streets of Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city across the Nile River, erupted in celebration when the news broke, a Reuters witness said. Thousands of people of all ages took to the streets, chanting “Civilian! Civilian! Civilian!”

Young men banged drums, people honked their car horns, and women carrying Sudanese flags ululated in jubilation.

“This agreement opens the way for the formation of the institutions of the transitional authority, and we hope that this is the beginning of a new era,” said Omar al-Degair, a leader of the FFC.

“We would like to reassure all political forces, armed movements and all those who participated in the change from young men and women — that this agreement will be comprehensive and will not exclude anyone,” said General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the Transitional Military Council.

“We thank the African and Ethiopian mediators for their efforts and patience. We also thank our brothers in the Forces for Freedom and Change for the good spirit,” said Dagalo, who heads the Rapid Support Forces accused by the FFC of crushing the sit-in.

Opposition medics say more than 100 people were killed in the dispersal and subsequent violence. The government put the death toll at 62.
The African Union announces the Sudanese military council and the opposition agreed to a constitutional declaration that will pave the way to a new transitional government. It calls for the new government to be headed by six civilians and five generals, and formally places the Rapid Support Forces under military command.