Sudan generals, protest leaders sign transition deal

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s military council and protest leaders on Saturday signed a hard-won "constitutional declaration" that paves the way for a transition to civilian rule.

The agreement was signed by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, deputy chief of the military council, and Ahmed al-Rabie, representing the Alliance for Freedom and Change protest umbrella, an AFP reporter said.

Heads of state, prime ministers and dignitaries from several countries -- including Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Egypt’s premier Mustafa Madbuli -- attended the ceremony in Khartoum, and the signing was met with applause.

The constitutional declaration builds on a political declaration that was agreed by the military and protesters on July 17.

It formalises the creation of a transition administration that will be guided by an 11-member sovereign council, comprised of six civilians and five military figures.

The agreement follows nearly eight months of protests -- initially against longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who fell in April, and then against the military council that deposed him.

Talks between the protesters and the military were mediated by the African Union and Ethiopia, which brought the two sides together again even after a protest sit-in outside military headquarters was brutally dispersed by men in military fatigues on June 3.

Some 120 people were killed during that crackdown, according to doctors linked to the protesters.

The signing ceremony started with Sudan’s national anthem, followed by a reading of verses from the Holy Qura'an and the Old Testament, while the words "Sudan’s joy" were emblazoned on banners.

The country of 40 million people will be ruled by an 11-member sovereign council and a government, which under the deal must be dominated by civilians.

However, the interior and defence ministers are to be chosen by military members of the council.

Observers have warned that the transitional government will have little leverage to counter any attempt by the military to roll back the uprising’s achievements and seize back power.

Security forces deployed across Khartoum on Saturday for biggest international event in years in Sudan, which had become something of a pariah country under Bashir’s rule.

One of the most immediate diplomatic consequences of the compromise reached this month could be Sudan’s return to the African Union, which suspended the country’s membership in June.

Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide in the Darfur region, had been slated to appear in court on Saturday on corruption charges. But his trial has been postponed to an as yet undetermined date.