Sudan's transitional authorities and rebel alliance sign peace deal

Sudan's transitional authorities and a rebel alliance signed a peace deal on Monday following months of negotiations aimed at ending the country's decades-long civil wars, but other powerful armed groups have thus far declined to join them.

The deal was reached between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front, a coalition of several armed groups.

Leaders signed the agreement in South Sudan's capital, Juba, where talks have been held since late last year (2019).

Negotiating an end to the rebellions in Sudan's far-flung provinces has been a crucial goal for the transitional government, which assumed power after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

Authorities hope to revive the country's battered

Sudan is currently ruled by a military-civilian government, with elections possible in late 2022.

A cease-fire between government forces and the rebels has been in place since al-Bashir's ouster.

The televised ceremony was attended by South Sudan President Salva Kiir, whose own country gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following decades of civil war.

The head of Sudan's sovereign council, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok also attended the signing.

Deputy chief of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Gen. Mohammed Hamadan Dagalo, signed the agreement along with rebel leaders.

The deal would grant self-rule for the southern provinces of Blue Nile, South Kordofan and West Kordofan, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press. Rebel forces would be integrated into Sudan's armed forces.

The Sudan Revolutionary Front, centred in the western Darfur region, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, is part of the pro-democracy movement that led to the uprising against al-Bashir, but the rebels didn't fully support the military-civilian power-sharing deal. That deal includes a six-month deadline for achieving peace, which ran out in February.

Sudan's largest single rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement-North led by Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu, was involved in the talks but has yet to reach a deal with the government.

Al-Hilu has called for a secular state with no role of religion in lawmaking, the disbanding of al-Bashir's militias and the revamping of the country's military.

The group has said if its demands are not met, it would call for self-determination in areas it controls in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan provinces.

Another major rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army, which is led by Abdel-Wahid Nour, rejects the transitional government and has not taken part in the talks.

The agreement did not offer a "clear separation of state and religion" as demanded by al-Hilu's movement and many Sudanese who denounce the weaponization of religion in Sudanese politics, said Suliman Baldo, senior advisor at The Sentry, a watchdog group.

"Peace will remain far from comprehensive until the reasons that motivated the boycott of non-signatories are satisfactorily addressed," he said.