2019 Is a Year the Sudanese Will Never Forget

The Sudanese Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change sign the political agreement that paved the way for the formation of the transitional government in Khartoum last August (Reuters)
The Sudanese Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change sign the political agreement that paved the way for the formation of the transitional government in Khartoum last August (Reuters)
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2019 Is a Year the Sudanese Will Never Forget

The Sudanese Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change sign the political agreement that paved the way for the formation of the transitional government in Khartoum last August (Reuters)
The Sudanese Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change sign the political agreement that paved the way for the formation of the transitional government in Khartoum last August (Reuters)

The Sudanese will not forget 2019 and their revolution, the revolution that brought down the most brutal dictatorship in the country’s history. They will forget not the bloodshed, the rapists, or the groans of the tortured. They will not forget the year with many days of hope, the year they weaved a “portrait of defiance” in the face of the regime’s brutality.

The Sudanese celebrated their revolution’s first anniversary on the 19th of December, the country’s third revolution after the October and March revolutions of 1964 and 1985. The revolution continues a year after it began and months after its victory on the 11th of April.

The revolution inherited arbitrary wars throughout the country and a flabby and corrupt state apparatus controlled by the regime’s Islamist cronies. The new government is fighting hard to find peace, retrieve the state from them, and instill an honest and efficient apparatus in its place.

The revolution’s story

After four months of uninterrupted peaceful protesting, the popular movement brought an end to Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year reign. The 6th of April, five days before Bashir was brought down, as the myth of the legendarily repressive state was shattered by the huge numbers who confronted the army in the capital.

The Sudanese Professionals Association

The Sudanese Professionals Association, an association of professional syndicates, adopted the movement’s demands and called for a protest in Khartoum, which would head to the palace and ask the president to resign on December 25th; they were met with gunfire and tear gas at the hand of the security forces. Protests continued, and on the 1st of January last year, the “Declaration of Freedom and Change” was born and adopted by most of the country’s opposition parties and civil society organizations. Thus the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance was formed.

Sit-in facing Army Command

By the end of March 2019, the regime had begun to crumble under the weight of the movement, and Bashir appeared shaken in the speeches he delivered to his supporters.

Social media played a pivotal role in documenting the killing of peaceful demonstrators, exposing the major transgressions perpetrated by the regime's security apparatus to the world.

“Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change” announced that a march to the General Command of the Sudanese Army would take place on April 6, the anniversary of the 1986 uprising against President Jaafar Nimeiri. As the sun set that day, millions of people surrounded the army leadership, and the alliance declared that the sit-in would persist until the president stepped down. The security services and the Islamists’ militias tried to break the sit-in by force, but they failed after attempts.

Tragedy at the sit-in

When the army announced that Bashir would be removed on April 11th to be replaced by a military council led by its former Lieutenant General, Awad Ibn Auf with Lieutenant-General Kamal Abdel Maarouf as his deputy. Both men had been members security committee set up by Bashir to quell the protests, and a massive sit-in was held in response immediately. Under the weight of its pressure, Ibn Auf resigned and the military council was dissolved, and he announced the formation of a new council headed by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Inspector General of the Army at the time, and the current Transitional Council Chairman. Tragedy in struck in a sit-in on June 3 third, the security forces committed a massacre next to the army leadership base, killing dozens wounding hundreds, ending the Forces of Change's relationship with the military. In response, what is known as the giant June 30 processions, were held, shifting the balance of power in the favor of revolutionary forces.

African mediation and the constitutional document

Regional mediation, led by Ethiopia and the African Union, supported by the international community, succeeded in compelling them to sign a sharing agreement on August 17th after holding marathon negotiations and putting intense pressure on the junta and revolutionary forces,



US-Ukraine Minerals Deal: What We Know

FILE - President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov, File)
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US-Ukraine Minerals Deal: What We Know

FILE - President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov, File)

Washington and Kyiv have signed a new minerals deal that will see the United States invest in Ukraine's rare earth and other deposits as it seeks to reduce military aid to the war-torn country.

The deal came together after US President Donald Trump demanded compensation for US aid given to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden's administration, and follows weeks of delays following a spat in late February between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, AFP said.

Here's what we know about the agreement -- which lacks any explicit security guarantees for Ukraine:

- What's in the deal? -

Under the terms of the deal announced on Wednesday, Ukraine and the United States will establish a joint Reconstruction Investment Fund.

The fund will be controlled by a company with "equal representation of three Ukrainian and three American board members," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

The agreement covers 57 types of resources, including oil and gas.

If the United States decides to buy the resources, they will be given "first choice to either acquire them or designate the purchaser of our choice," the Treasury Department said.

The new fund "will receive 50 percent of royalties, license fees, and other similar payments from natural resource projects in Ukraine," according to the US Treasury.

Its profits will be invested exclusively in Ukraine for the first 10 years, after which profits "may be distributed between the partners," Kyiv said.

What resources does Ukraine have?

Ukraine holds about five percent of the world's mineral resources and rare earths, according to various estimates.

But work has not yet started on tapping many of the resources and a number of sites are in territory now controlled by Russian forces.

Ukraine also has around 20 percent of the world's graphite, an essential material for electric batteries, according to France's Bureau of Geological and Mining Research, and is a major producer of manganese and titanium.

It also says it possesses one of the largest lithium deposits in Europe, which is yet to be extracted.

Kyiv says "rare earth metals are known to exist in six deposits" and an investment of $300 million would be needed to develop a deposit at Novopoltavske, which it claimed was one of the world's largest.

Does Ukraine have to repay the US?

Trump demanded compensation for US aid given to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden's administration.

But under the terms of the deal signed this week, Ukraine will not be asked to pay back the billions of dollars it has received from the United States since Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022.

New military aid from Washington will be counted as its contribution to the fund, according to the text of the agreement.

Ukraine said it will maintain full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources throughout the process.

Kyiv noted that the agreement does not impact its bid for integration with the European Union.

What does US support mean for Ukraine?

Ukraine has said any deal would need to include long-term and robust security guarantees that would deter Russia from attacking again.

But the text does not place any specific security obligations on the United States.

It simply says that the United States "supports Ukraine's efforts to obtain the security assurances necessary to build a lasting peace."

However, a US Treasury statement notably mentioned Russia's "full-scale invasion" of Ukraine -- diverging from the Trump administration's usual formulation of a "conflict" for which Kyiv bears a large degree of responsibility.

"This is win-win for both sides," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Thursday.

"I think this is a strong signal to the Russian leadership," he said.