(Reuters) – Sudan’s military and a coalition of civilian parties have signed a framework deal aimed at ending a political standoff created by a military coup in October 2021. The deal could revive a transition that began with the 2019 overthrow of autocratic former leader Omar al-Bashir.
Below is a timeline of Sudan’s political upheavals:
Dec 19, 2018 – Hundreds protest in the northern city of Atbara against soaring bread prices. Demonstrations spurred by a broader economic crisis quickly spread to Khartoum and other cities. Security services respond with tear gas and gunfire.
April 11, 2019 – The army overthrows and detains Bashir, ending his three decades in power. Hundreds of thousands demonstrate to demand a handover of power to civilians.
June 3, 2019 – Security forces raid a sit-in protest outside the defence ministry in Khartoum. Opposition-linked medics say more than 100 people are killed in the assault.
Aug 17, 2019 – Civilian groups that backed the uprising sign a deal to share power with the military during a transitional period leading to elections. Later in the month Abdalla Hamdok, an economist and former U.N. official, is appointed to head a government.
Aug 31, 2020 – Transitional authorities strike a peace agreement with some rebel groups from the restive, western Darfur region and from the southern regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, but two key groups don’t join the deal.
Oct 23, 2020 – Sudan joins other Arab states in agreeing to take steps to normalise ties with Israel in a U.S.-brokered deal. Less than two months later, the United States removes Sudan from the list of countries that it considers sponsors of terrorism.
June 30, 2021 – Sudan wins approval for relief on at least $56 billion in foreign debt after carrying out economic reforms under the supervision of the International Monetary Fund.
Oct 25, 2021 – Security forces detain Hamdok and several other top civilians in pre-dawn raids, following weeks of bitter recriminations between civilian and military factions and a failed coup attempt. Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announces that the civilian government and other transitional bodies have been dissolved.
Nov 21, 2021 – After several mass rallies against the coup and the suspension of most international financial support for Sudan, military leaders and Hamdok announce a deal for his reinstatement as prime minister. Hamdok says he has returned to prevent further bloodshed and protect economic reforms, but resigns less than two months later.
June 16, 2022 – The U.N. World Food Programme says more than a third of Sudan’s population is facing acute food insecurity due to factors including economic and political crises, climate shocks and conflict.
Oct 25, 2022 – Huge crowds take to the streets of Sudan on the first anniversary of the coup, in one of the largest turnouts in a campaign of anti-military demonstrations. In Khartoum, protesters face heavy tear gas and stun grenades, and one civilian is killed in the neighbouring city of Omdurman, the 119th protest death recorded by medics.
Dec 5, 2022 – Civilian groups sidelined by the coup sign an initial deal with the military to start a new, two-year political transition.
(Editing by Crispian Balmer)
