Khartoum (AFP)

The ink of the agreement has barely dried that jubilation takes over the streets of Khartoum. But Ali, 19, is in tears: June 3, he lost a brother in the bloody dispersion of the sit-in emblematic of the challenge.

Sudan's ruling generals and the leaders of the protest movement on Saturday signed a landmark agreement that paves the way for a transfer of power to civilians in Sudan, where people hope it will bring a better life.

But for some, this outcome can not erase the sadness of having lost a loved one in the repression of the movement.

"My brother was shot dead on June 3", Ali told AFP, referring to the dispersal of the sit-in to the army headquarters, whose outcry had precipitated a resumption of negotiations between the two. camps.

According to doctors close to the protest movement, 127 people were killed that day, and 11 are still missing.

This crackdown was a key episode in the protest movement, launched in December in response to the tripling of the price of bread and then directed against President Omar al-Bashir who was eventually ousted by the army in April.

- "We won" -

"I wish he could see that, we won.The revolution is not dead, my brother is a hero," said Ali crying, as two friends wrapped in a big Sudanese flag came to comfort him.

Throughout the day, a crowd of men and women, young and old, converged on the conference room where the agreement was signed.

As they parade under the blazing sun in the long streets of the city's forbidden downtown, they make the "V" of victory, casting in chorus: "Madaniya, Madaniya", which can be translated as " civil power ".

The people of Khartoum or those from other provinces who came by bus or train took children or grandparents for the occasion.

A girl wearing jeans and draped with the Sudanese flag is leading her bike to the conference room, a scene that would have been inconceivable a few months ago.

"This is the biggest celebration I have ever seen in my country, we have a new Sudan," said Saba Mohammed, a 37-year-old veiled woman, who waves a small plastic flag.

The 39-month transition period aims to secure more rights and freedoms and is expected to culminate with elections in 2022.

- "Breathe" -

If the atmosphere is festive in the streets, many people remained cautious, fearing that the military return to the agreement or that the new leaders fail to recover a very poor economy.

At Khartoum's central market early Saturday, AFP customers and traders said they hoped a civilian government could help them make ends meet.

"Everyone is happy now," says Ali Youssef, a 19-year-old student working in the market.

"We have been under the control of the army for 30 years, but today we leave this behind because we are moving towards a civilian regime," adds the young man, sitting next to a pile of tomatoes.

"All of these vegetables are very expensive, but now I'm sure they will become affordable," he says.

Although it is too early to say whether daily life will improve for the Sudanese, they have at least the feeling that a page has been turned, paving the way for more freedom.

"I am 72 years old and in Bashir's 30 years of diet, I have the feeling that nothing good has ever happened," said Ali Issa Abdel Momen, another vegetable seller.

"But now, thank God, I'm starting to breathe."

© 2019 AFP