Sudanese protest leaders and their rebel partners have ended their differences over a power-sharing deal signed with the country's military rulers, vowing to work jointly for peace, a leading protest group said Thursday. On July 17, the umbrella protest movement signed a power-sharing accord with Sudan's ruling generals that provides for a transitional civilian administration following the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir.
But three armed groups who are members of the protest movement had objected to the deal, saying it failed to address conflicts in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. A group of protest leaders then flew to Addis Ababa for talks with the rebels, and after days of intense negotiations, they reached an agreement that was announced on Thursday.
"This agreement has discussed the fundamental roots of war... and aims to reach a comprehensive peace accord with all armed groups," said the Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded the campaign against Bashir. "The agreement paves the way for establishing comprehensive peace urgently once the transitional process for a civilian government begins," it said on its Facebook page.