Juba Hosts Peace Deal to End Years of Conflict in Sudan

Hamdouk met Friday with President of South Sudan State, Salva Kiir at the Presidential Palace in Juba (Suna news agency)
Hamdouk met Friday with President of South Sudan State, Salva Kiir at the Presidential Palace in Juba (Suna news agency)
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Juba Hosts Peace Deal to End Years of Conflict in Sudan

Hamdouk met Friday with President of South Sudan State, Salva Kiir at the Presidential Palace in Juba (Suna news agency)
Hamdouk met Friday with President of South Sudan State, Salva Kiir at the Presidential Palace in Juba (Suna news agency)

Juba is preparing to embrace Saturday a landmark achievement in the history of Sudan when the government and rebel forces sign a final peace deal aimed at resolving decades of regional conflicts which left millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead.

The city turned Friday into a beehive to welcome tens of leaderships and officials invited to witness the historic event.

Juba will host popular concerts and carnivals to celebrate the peace deal.

South Sudanese Chief Mediator in the Sudanese peace talks in Juba Presidential Adviser Tut Gatluak said the final signing of Juba peace agreement between the Sudanese parties would be attended by a number of heads of state and government and representatives of the African Union and the United Nations.

On Friday, a delegation arrived in Juba from Khartoum headed by President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Fattah Al-Burhan, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdouk.

The ceremony will also be attended by neighboring and sisterly countries that contributed to the peace process in its various stages, including leaders from Kenya, Ethiopia, Chad, and Egypt.

In Riyadh, reports said that Saudi Arabia would attend the signing of the peace deal on Saturday through its Minister of State for African Affairs Ambassador Ahmed Kattan, representing Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Gatluak affirmed in a press conference he held in Juba that all preparations have been completed for celebrating the final signing of the peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Revolutionary Front next Saturday.

Three major groups signed a preliminary deal in August - two factions from the western region of Darfur and one from the southern region - after months of peace talks hosted by neighboring South Sudan.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which had not participated in initial peace negotiations, agreed last month to hold new talks hosted by South Sudan.

Gatluak told Reuters ahead of Saturday’s ceremony in Juba that the goal is to sign deals with all armed groups.

Following his arrival in Juba Friday, Hamdouk held a series of meetings with leaders of the armed movements.

He also sat down with President of South Sudan State, Salva Kiir at the Presidential Palace in Juba to discussed progress of the bilateral relations and ways of cementing them for the interest of the two peoples.

The deal sets out terms to integrate rebels into the security forces, be politically represented, and have economic and land rights. A new fund will pay $750 million a year for 10 years to the impoverished southern and western regions and the chance of return for displaced people is also guaranteed.



Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said Friday Damascus and Ankara had reached a deal for Türkiye to supply natural gas to the war-torn country via a pipeline in the north.

"I agreed with my Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar on supplying Syria with six million cubic meters of natural gas a day through the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline," Bashir said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

Kilis is near Türkiye’s border with Syria, which is north of the city of Aleppo.

The deal will "contribute to increasing the hours of electricity provision and improve the energy situation in Syria", Bashir added.

Syria's authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.

The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.

Bayraktar told the private CNN-Turk broadcaster late Thursday that "we will provide natural gas to Syria from Kilis within the next three months".

"This gas will be used in electricity generation at the natural gas power plant in Aleppo," he said, confirming an expected daily flow of six million cubic meters.

In March, Qatar said it had begun funding gas supplies to Syria from Jordan, in a move aimed at addressing electricity production shortages and improving infrastructure.

That announcement said the initiative was set to generate up to 400 megawatts of electricity daily in the first phase, with production capacity to gradually increase at the Deir Ali station southeast of Damascus.

Both Türkiye and Qatar have close ties with Syria's transitional government, and were the first two countries to reopen their embassies in Damascus after Assad's ouster.

Both have also urged the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

In January, Syria's electricity chief said two power ships were being sent from Türkiye and Qatar to increase supply after the United States eased sanctions, allowing fuel and electricity donations to Syria for six months.

Last month, Britain said it was lifting energy production sector sanctions, a move Damascus said would "directly contribute to improving" Syrians' living conditions.