The Sudanese government and armed groups on Sunday promised that they will implement all items of their final peace deal without delay.
This promise came at the first meeting between the Sudanese government and armed groups in Juba, capital of South Sudan, a day after the signing of the final peace deal.
“The two sides agreed on the necessity of unity of the signatories to the agreement. We also agreed not to delay any item of the agreement as they are governed by timetables,” said Mohamed Al-Hassan Al-Taishi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and spokesman of the government’s negotiating team, in a statement.
“It is important that we begin implementation of the security arrangements to prove to the Sudanese people that the war has stopped and the phase of establishing the institutions agreed upon in the agreement has begun,” he added.
Al-Hadi Idris, chairman of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, the alliance of the nine armed groups signing the peace deal, also highlighted the armed groups’ earnestness in implementing the deal.
He noted the peace deal will be included in the constitutional document in fewer than two weeks.
On Saturday, the Sudanese government and armed groups signed a final peace deal in Juba to end their armed conflicts.
The deal ends about 17 years of conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region and about 9 years of war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions.
According to UN statistics, the Darfur conflict, which erupted in 2003, has left around 300,000 dead and 2.5 million others displaced, while the war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile has affected about 1 million people since its outbreak in 2011.
The final peace deal included protocols of security arrangements, power and wealth sharing, compensation for the displaced people and refugees, land ownership and realization of justice and development.
Since October 2019, South Sudan has been mediating between the Sudanese government and the armed groups from Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions.
Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement, led by Jibril Ibrahim, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) /Minni Minnawi faction, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector and opposition groups from eastern, central and northern Sudan, took part in the talks with the government.
It is worth noting that the SPLM/northern sector did not ink the peace deal, while the SLM/Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur faction even refused to join the peace talks.
