Thousands of Sudanese Hail Landmark Deal with Generals

Crowds of thousands jubilant Sudanese took to the streets of Khartoum on Friday to celebrate a landmark deal between protest leaders and the country's ruling generals aimed at turning the page on months of political unrest.

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The group that initially launched demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir in December hailed the agreement.

"Today, our revolution has become victorious and our victory shines," the Sudanese Professionals Association said in a statement.

According to reports from Al-Jazeera, many voices among protestors still insisted to maintain the pressure on the military so the agreement would be implemented. 

"We would like to see many more guarantees from the military because they've made many promises on handing over power only to backtrack later on," Mohamed Ismail told the news organization in Khartoum's al-Sahafa area.   

The two sides have held talks in Khartoum for the past two days. They agreed to establish a sovereign council by rotation between the military and civilians for a period of three years or slightly more, African Union mediator Mohamed Hassan Lebatt said at a news conference.

They also agreed to form an independent technocratic government and to launch a transparent, independent investigation into violent events in recent weeks.

The two sides agreed to postpone the establishment of a legislative council. They had previously agreed that the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition would take two-thirds of a legislative council's seats before security forces crushed a sit-in protest on June 3, killing dozens, and talks collapsed.

Opposition medics say more than 100 people were killed in the dispersal and subsequent violence. The government put the death toll at 62.