Sudan govt to sign final peace deal with rebel groups

Sudan’s transitional government and rebel groups negotiating in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, will sign a final peace deal in two weeks’ time.

The news emerged after a delegation of South Sudanese mediators returned from Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. The peace talks, had been stalled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The negotiations recently resumed via video conferencing between the government’s delegation in Khartoum and the rebel groups in Juba.

Tut Galwak, South Sudan’s presidential security adviser and chief mediator in the peace process, also went to Khartoum as he said some sticking points could not be discussed via video link.

Mr Tut said Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was to join the discussions on Thursday via video link from Khartoum – his first time to join the negotiations.

He added that once the security arrangements are finished after two weeks, President Salva Kiir will invite friends of Sudan to witness the signing in Juba.

The peace talks incorporate rebel groups operating in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions which had been fighting the government of former President Omar al-Bashir before his overthrow in April 2019.