Rebel flag displayed in Khartoum for first time

KHARTOUM, May 27 (AFP) — The flag of the southern Sudanese rebels was displayed for the first time in Khartoum Thursday, during a student march to celebrate the signing of key peace agreements, an AFP correspondent reported.

The march was organised by the African National Union, an association close to the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

They demonstrators shouted “long live the new Sudan” and “yes for peace, yes for united Sudan,” as they walked up to a square near the presidential palace, where they were joined by northern Sudanese demonstrators.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Zihawi Ibrahim Malik told a press conference the government was “committed to honouring the peace agreement.”

He called on the “international community to honour their promises to back and support Sudan and lift sanctions” imposed over terrorism concerns.

Khartoum and the SPLA signed three protocols Wednesday in Kenya, clearing the way for a final peace deal to end 21 years of civil war. Sudanese diplomats have said the comprehensive accord will be signed in July.

The civil war in Sudan erupted in 1983 when the south, where most observe Christianity and traditional faiths, took up arms to end the domination and marginalisation by the wealthier, mainly Muslim north.

The war has killed at least 1.5 million people and displaced four million others.