Sudan celebrates end of

stand-off between military

leaders and opposition
Sudanese citizens took to the streets of
the capital, Khartoum, Friday to
celebrate a power-sharing agreement
that could bring an end to a weeks-long
standoff between the ruling Transitional
Military Council and the opposition
alliance.
Sudan's military leadership and the
country's pro-democracy movement
have agreed to form a rotating, joint
sovereign council that will govern "for
the next three years or a little longer,"
Mohamed el-Hassan Labat, the African
Union's envoy to Sudan, said early
Friday.
Under the agreement, the military
council will be in charge of the country's
leadership for the first 21 months. A
civilian administration will rule the
council during the following 18 months.
The joint sovereign council will consist
of five members of the military and five
civilians, in addition to one civilian
chosen by consensus from both sides.
"Today our revolution has won and it
waves the flags of victory," the
opposition Declaration of Freedom and
Change Forces (DFCF) said Friday.
The two sides have also agreed to
launch an investigation into street
violence committed since the ouster of
long-time President Omar al-Bashir in
April.
Talks between the military leadership
and opposition groups collapsed after
security forces broke up a protest camp
outside Khartoum's military
headquarters on June 3. More than 100
protesters were killed in the crackdown.
Ethiopia's government and the African
Union mediated talks that led to
Thursday's agreement, Labat said. Tens
of thousands of protesters flooded the
streets of Sudan's cities in the run-up to
the deal.
The Transitional Military Council has
been in power since the military
overthrew al-Bashir in April. The coup
followed months of protests that
engulfed the country.
Sudan's pro-democracy movement
remained on the streets after Bashir's
ouster, demanding a transition to civilian
rule.