Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and a coalition of political and armed groups have signed a founding charter to establish a parallel government in the war-hit country, sources said on Sunday.
"It's done," a source close to the organisers of the signing ceremony, which took place overnight in Nairobi, told AFP.
The signatories said the charter paves the way for a "government of peace and unity" in rebel-controlled areas of Sudan.
The move comes nearly two years into a devastating war with the regular army that has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises.
Delayed multiple times
The signing, delayed multiple times, took place behind closed doors in the Kenyan capital.
Among those who signed was a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which controls parts of the southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
Abdel Rahim Dagalo, deputy and brother of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – who was notably absent – also signed.
The charter, seen by AFP, calls for "a secular, democratic, decentralised state based on freedom, equality, and justice, without bias toward any cultural, ethnic, religious, or regional identity."
War splits country
It also outlines plans for a "new, unified, professional, national army" with a new military doctrine that "reflects the diversity and plurality characterising the Sudanese state."
The proposed government, according to the charter, aims to end the war, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid and integrate armed groups into a single, national force.
The war between the RSF and the army, triggered by disputes over integrating the paramilitary force into the regular military, has killed thousands with both warring parties accused of war crimes.
The conflict has split the country in two, with the army in control of the north and east, while the RSF holds nearly all of the western region of Darfur and swathes of the south.
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