Sudan military council, opposition reach power-sharing agreement

Sudan's ruling military council and a coalition of opposition and protest groups have reached an agreement to share power during a transition period leading to elections.

Addressing a press conference, African Union mediator Mohamed Hassan Lebatt said the two sides agreed to establish a sovereign council by rotation between the military and civilians for a period of three years or slightly more.

The two sides also agreed to form an independent 'technocratic' government and to launch a transparent, independent investigation into violent events in recent



weeks.

Omar al-Degair, a leader of the Forces for Freedom and Change -- an umbrella organization of opposition groups, hailed the agreement as the beginning of a new era and said the agreement opens the way for the formation of the institutions of the transitional authority. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Head of the Transitional Military Council, said that the agreement will be comprehensive and will not exclude anyone.

The power-sharing agreement came after two days of talks in Khartoum that resumed on Wednesday.