Sudan: army, paramilitary group dispute delays signing of political deal

A dispute between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group has delayed the signing of a political agreement aimed at restoring civilian rule in the country.

The signing of the deal was scheduled to take place today.

A leader of the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change announced the delay in a statement, explaining that the military and the Rapid Support Force were still negotiating reform in the army and security sector including the integration of the Rapid Support Force into the military.

“The army wants the integration and military reform within six months, while the RSF wants it within 22 years,” it added.

As of 13:55 GMT, there was no comment from the Sudanese authorities on the delay, which is the second time the signing of the deal has been postponed.

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On Tuesday, a spokesman for the political process in Sudan, Khaled Omar Youssef, said politicians were still waiting for the technical committees consisting of the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces to conclude their discussions to sign the final political agreement as soon as possible.

On March 29, the Security and Military Reform conference in Khartoum concluded the last conference of the final stage of the political agreement, without the army leaders, due to differences over merging the Rapid Support Forces into the army.

The conference comes as a continuation of a political process launched on January 8, between the signatories of the Framework Agreement, namely the ruling Military Sovereignty Council, and civil forces.