This archive report was first published on 5 July 2019.
On July 5, 2019, Sudanese protesters took to the streets of Khartoum to celebrate a landmark deal between protest leaders and the country's ruling generals.
The power-sharing deal, brokered by Ethiopian and African Union mediators, came after two days of hard-won talks that followed the collapse of previous negotiations in May over who should lead the new body.
"The two sides agreed on establishing a sovereign council with a rotating military and civilian presidency for a period of three years or little more," African Union mediator Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt told reporters.
According to the deal, the new ruling body will comprise six civilians, five of them protest movement nominees, and five military representatives.
People celebrated on the streets of Khartoum, chanting "the martyrs' blood has not been shed in vain" and "civilian rule, civilian rule," as security forces kept a low profile.
"Today we can say that our revolution has embarked on the right path in achieving our goals," said north Khartoum resident Somaiya Hassan.
The deal was swiftly welcomed by the United Arab Emirates, which has been sympathetic to the ruling generals.
"We hope that the next phase will be the establishment of a strong constitutional system that strengthens the role of institutions," UAE minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter.
