Representatives hold hands after signing the deal in Juba on Monday, August 31, 2020 | Credit | Diana John

The Sudanese transitional government and armed opposition groups signed the initial peace agreement in Juba on Monday morning.

The agreement includes protocols for security, land ownership, transitional justice, power-sharing and the return of refugees.

Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo signed the deal on behalf of the transitional government of Sudan.

For the armed opposition groups, the agreement was signed by the representative of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, and rebel groups from the western Darfur and the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The initial peace deal provides for the dismantling of armed forces and the integration of former combatants.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by the Chairman of the Sudan Sovereign Council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok.

President Salva Kiir is the guarantor of the Sudanese peace agreement.

At the signing ceremony were representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and representatives of Chad and the African Union in South Sudan.

Others include the diplomatic missions and the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

However, two armed movements have rejected the Juba deal, over the participation of the head of the government delegation, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. He’s heads the Rapid Support Forces.

They include a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdel Wahil Muhammed al-Nur and a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North — SPLM-N led by Abdelazuz al-Hilu.

The Sudanese peace talks was initiated by President Salva Kiir to resolve the root causes of conflicts in Sudan.

The talks brought together all political and military groups that fought the regime of the former President Omar Bashir.