In a step described as historic, the Sudanese government and the Revolutionary Front Alliance - which includes a group of political forces and armed movements - signed a peace agreement in the initials, in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, today, Monday, absent from the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid Nur, which controls parts of Jebel Marra. In the Darfur region, the popular movement led by Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, which is fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The signing ceremony of the agreement was attended in Juba: South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo "Hemedti" (head of the government negotiating delegation), and Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok;

The Sudanese leaders and mediators appealed to Abdel Wahid Nour and Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu to join the ride of peace.

Signed in initials .. Why?

Most of the text of the agreement was signed in initials during intermittent periods of the long negotiation life, in an attempt to assure all parties commitment to it. As for the celebration of the final signature, it is expected to be attended by a wide international level, and it may be in another country, provided that South Sudan is given the preference for embracing the initial ceremonies of the agreement. By virtue of its mediation in these tours.

Silva Kiir in the middle of Al-Burhan (left) and Hamdok after the signing of the agreement (Reuters)

What are the signatories?

The Revolutionary Front coalition, which signed the agreement with the Sudanese government after negotiations that lasted about a year, includes armed forces from Darfur: the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Mona Arko Minawi, the Justice and Equality Movement led by Gabriel Ibrahim, and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council led by Hadi Idris Yahya, who is the one who Currently he heads the Revolutionary Front organization.

The coalition also includes: the SPLM led by Malik Aqar and negotiated for the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions, as well as the Nubian Kush Movement, which negotiated on behalf of North Sudan, which was deprived of development for many years.

Within the revolutionary front also currents representing eastern and central Sudan, all of which signed in the name of these tracks, and the result was an agreement between the Sudanese government and the revolutionary front with its five tracks.

However, it is important to note that during these long negotiations, Minawi split from the Revolutionary Front and held the position of Vice President, as he continued to criticize the organization’s performance from time to time and demanded the introduction of other factions allied with it, while other forces saw the importance of focusing on achieving the peace file. Settlement with the Sudanese government, and then pay attention to organizational issues.

The mediation in South Sudan dealt with this situation impartially and agreed that there would be two streams of the organization, and Minawi appeared at the signing ceremony with his former comrades, signing the eight protocols.

Malik Aqar while attending the signing of the agreement (Reuters)

What is the weight of absentees?

Government and rebellion leaders were keen not to ignore the absence of the Abdel Wahid Nour and Abdel Aziz al-Hilu factions from the peace agreement, which reflects their great influence on the peace map.

Nour enjoys wide influence in many displaced camps in Darfur, and he has the ability to move all the strings related to the movements of thousands of internally displaced persons, in addition to his control over many areas in Jebel Marra.

As for Al-Hilu, he has military influence and great forces in South Kordofan, and he is also widely appreciated by the people there, and his personal relationship with Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, who visited him in the movement’s headquarters in Kauda months before adhering to the need to ensure the separation of religion from the state in official legal legislation To the government, otherwise it would grant the regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile the right to self-determination, which greatly impeded reaching an understanding with his movement.

Hemeti (left) and the head of the "Kush" liberation movement, Muhammad Daoud (Reuters)

What is the importance of the agreements signed?

The peace agreements in Darfur, the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions, and the protocols of eastern, central and northern Sudan addressed central issues in matters of wealth and power division, as well as security arrangements in a manner described by the leaders of the armed movements and forces in the revolutionary front as unprecedented, and that guarantees a just distribution of power and wealth. The leaders of the rebellion are partners in the transitional government, whose period was decided to start from the date of the final signing of the peace agreement, for a period of 39 months, meaning the abolition of an entire year of the life of the transitional government in Sudan.

How did the agreement deal with the division of power and wealth?

Within the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions agreement signed with Malik Aqar Group, a share of the locally produced wealth reaches 40% for a period of 10 years.

The agreement also guarantees the right to legislate and establishes a legislative system based on the 1973 constitution based on the recognition of the Islamic and Christian religions, and guarantees equal rights and freedoms for all its citizens.

Under this agreement, a National Commission for Religious Freedom will be established, with branches in the two regions, to do justice to the Sudanese Christians, who constitute an appreciated group of the residents of the two regions.

As for the Darfur agreement, it guaranteed the assimilation of the people of the region into the civil service institutions through two phases: The first is by a political decision to absorb the sons and daughters of Darfur by 20% in all civil service institutions in the state, starting with the ministries' agents, general directors, ambassadors and members of diplomatic missions, and in various departments in the country. Governmental commissions, bodies and companies, in addition to intermediate jobs.

The second stage is the stage of identifying deficiencies in the civil service.

It was also agreed that Darfur's percentage of the oil and mineral resources extracted from the region would be 40% for a period of 10 years.

How will the former rebels participate in the government?

The Sudanese peace agreement guaranteed the leaders of the Revolutionary Front and its organizations effective participation in the transitional governing bodies, as the agreement granted them 75 seats in the Legislative Council, which has not yet been formed, and which consists of 300 seats in total, and former rebels are entitled to participate in the Sovereignty Council with 3 seats and 25% of the total executive positions In government, in addition to 40% participation in local governments in the Darfur region.

How were the security arrangements handled?

And because the armed forces that signed the peace had forces on the ground, the security arrangement clause was the most complex on the negotiating table, and it caused more than once to delay reaching an agreement until it was finally decided that the comprehensive security arrangements process in the two regions and Darfur would be in accordance with periods and timetables for implementation. On it in the framework of one professional Sudanese army.

It was decided that upon reaching a permanent ceasefire and final security arrangements signed as part of the peace agreement, the two parties are obligated to address the issue of the armed groups that did not sign these agreements.

It was also decided to integrate the SPLA-North forces and its other security institutions, and the armed forces in other Darfur movements, into the unified Sudanese professional army and other regular forces, in accordance with recognized professional standards within 39 months.

The head of the Justice and Equality Movement, Gabriel Ibrahim, during the signing of the peace agreement (Reuters)

What are the parties' sites currently on the ground?

About 5 years ago, the direct war in the Darfur region stopped between the Sudanese army and the rebel movements, after a series of fierce battles, most notably the battle of "Goz Dango" that took place in South Darfur in April 2015, after which the government army said that it had succeeded in "breaking the thorn of the rebellion." Which the armed movements deny.

Agreements have been signed to stop hostilities that are renewed every few months to prevent the escalation of the fighting, although there are clashes from time to time between the government and forces affiliated with the Abdul Wahid group on the outskirts of Jebel Marra, which the official authorities do not talk about.

In the regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, the great split that occurred in the SPLM-North divided it into two factions: one led by Malik Aqar and the other led by Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu. There are only sparse skirmishes between the Rapid Support Forces led by "Hemeti" and the Al-Hilu group, and these skirmishes were A reason for the latter to stop his participation in the Juba negotiations, protesting against Hemeti's leadership of the government negotiating delegation, considering that his presence at the negotiating table while his forces are fighting on the ground makes him lose neutrality, a demand that Khartoum did not respond to and insisted that Hemeti be the head of its negotiating delegation.