UAE supports Sudan deal

Dubai - UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said it would stand with Khartoum in "good times and bad".

The UAE lauded Sudan's opposition and the military after a power-sharing deal was reached by the two sides on Friday. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said it would stand with Khartoum in "good times and bad".
"We hope that the next phase will witness the foundation of a constitutional system that will strengthen the role of institutions with broad national and popular support," Dr Gargash said in a Twitter post.
Sudan's ruling military council and a coalition of opposition and protest groups agreed to share power for three years and then hold elections, in a deal that brought thousands of people onto the streets to celebrate.
The deal has revived hopes for a peaceful transition of power in a nation plagued by internal conflicts and a deepening economic crisis in the wake of nearly three decades of rule by Omar Al Bashir, who was ousted in April.
Relations between the military council that took over from Bashir and protest groups broke down when security forces killed dozens of people holding a sit-in on June 3. But African mediators brokered a return to direct talks following huge protests against the military on Sunday.
After a second straight day of discussions, the two sides agreed in the early hours of Friday 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 told reporters.
The first 21 months will be led by the military and the final 18 months by civilians, according to a statement from the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which has spearheaded the protests. It said the sovereign council would include five military figures and five civilians, with an additional member agreed by the two sides.
The deal also includes the formation of an independent technocratic government and a transparent, independent investigation into violent events in recent weeks.- Reuters

The sides agreed to postpone the establishment of a legislative council. They had previously said the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition would take two-thirds of a legislative council's seats, before security forces crushed the sit-in outside Khartoum's Defence Ministry on June 3.

• Dubai