The Sudan Revolutionary Front ( ar, الجبهة الثورية السودانية, translit=Al-Jabhat Al-Thawriyat Al-Sudan), or the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), is an alliance between
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
ese factions that was created in opposition to the government of President
Omar al-Bashir. It was declared on 12 November 2011, following several months of support by
Darfuri rebel groups for the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North in the
conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Composition
The alliance created in November 2011 aimed to bring together the two main factions of the
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army ( ar, حركة تحرير السودان ''Ḥarakat Taḥrīr Al-Sūdān''; abbreviated SLM, SLA, or SLM/A) is a Sudanese rebel group active in Darfur, Sudan. It was founded as the Darfur Liberation FrontFlint ...
, as well as the other major rebel group in Darfur, the
Justice and Equality Movement
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; ar, حركة العدل والمساواة, ') is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in Dec ...
, with rebels in
South Kordofan
South Kordofan ( ar, جنوب كردفان ') is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,100,000 people (2000).[Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to ...]
states. The declaration of the SRF's formation was delayed until a disagreement between JEM and the other factions on the role of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
in a post-revolutionary federal government was resolved.
The signers for each group were
Yasir Arman
Yasir Said Arman (ياسر عرمان) (born October 5, 1962, Al Jazirah) is a Sudanese politician and a leading figure in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). He was the SPLM's deputy secretary-general for the northern sector and its ...
for the SPLM-N, Ahmed Tugud for the JEM, Abul Gassim Al-Haj for the SLM-al-Nur, and Al-Rayah Mahmoud for the SLM-Minnawi.
Areas of operation
Yasir Arman
Yasir Said Arman (ياسر عرمان) (born October 5, 1962, Al Jazirah) is a Sudanese politician and a leading figure in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). He was the SPLM's deputy secretary-general for the northern sector and its ...
, the secretary-general of the SPLM-N and a prominent member of the SRF's high political committee, said shortly after the SRF's formation that "all Sudan is a theatre for operations, including Khartoum". , the JEM and both SLM factions were still based in the region of Darfur, and the SPLM-N had not expanded its fight against the Sudanese government north of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
In late December 2011, JEM fighters advanced into
North Kordofan
North Kordofan ( ar, شمال كردفان, Šamāl Kurdufān) is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 185,302 km2 and an estimated population of 2,920,890 (2008 census) (3,340,000 (2011 estimate)). El-Obeid is the ...
with the stated intention of ousting President
Omar al-Bashir from power, though they suffered a setback when their leader,
Khalil Ibrahim
Dr. Khalil Ibrahim ( ar, خليل إبراهيم; 1957 – 23 December 2011) was a Sudanese insurgent leader who was the founder of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
Personal life
Ibrahim was born in Sudan in 1957. Ibrahim was from ...
, was
killed in action in the state.
Around the time of the SRF's formation in November 2011, the Sudanese government accused neighbouring
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
of supporting the rebel groups. In addition to bombing South Sudanese infrastructure and camps, South Sudanese authorities stated that Sudan had backed armed opposition factions within South Sudan.
Sudanese peace process
The
August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration, signed by military and civilian representatives during the
2018–19 Sudanese Revolution, requires that a peace agreement for resolving the
War in Darfur
The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups bega ...
and the
Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile
The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile is an armed conflict in the Sudanese southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a northern affilia ...
be made within the first six months of the 39-month transition period to democratic civilian government.
As part of the resulting
Sudanese peace process
The Sudanese peace process consists of meetings, written agreements and actions that aim to resolve the War in Darfur, the Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile (the ''Two Areas''), and armed conflicts in central, northern and easte ...
, on 21 October 2019, el-Hadi Idris, on behalf of the SRF, and
Hemetti, on behalf of the
Sovereignty Council (the collective head of state), signed a political agreement (co-signed by a South Sudanese mediator) including a renewed
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
, the delivering of humanitarian assistance by government agencies to areas under conflict, and commitment to negotiate further.
On 31 August 2020, a peace agreement was signed between the Sudanese authorities and rebel factions led by Gibril Ibrahim, Minni Minnawi, el-Hadi Idris and
Malik Agar
Malik Agar is a Sudanese politician and insurgent leader active in the insurgency in Blue Nile state.
Second Sudanese Civil War
Agar joined the Sudanese armed opposition shortly after the beginning of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983.
I ...
to end armed hostilities. Under the terms of the agreement, the factions that signed will be entitled to three seats on the
sovereignty council, a total of five ministers in the
transitional cabinet and a quarter of seats in the
transitional legislature. At a regional level, signatories will be entitled between 30 and 40% of the seats on transitional legislatures of their home states or regions.
See also
*
Sudanese Awakening Revolutionary Council
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[{{cite web , last1 = FFC , last2 = TMC , last3= IDEA , last4 = Reeves , first4 = Eric , author1-link = Forces of Freedom and Change , author2-link = Transitional Military Council (2019) , author3-link = International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance , author4-link = Eric Reeves , title = Sudan: Draft Constitutional Charter for the 2019 Transitional Period , website= sudanreeves.org , date = 2019-08-10 , url = https://sudanreeves.org/2019/08/06/sudan-draft-constitutional-charter-for-the-2019-transitional-period/ , accessdate = 2019-08-10 , archive-url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20210428013117/http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http://sudanreeves.org/2019/08/06/sudan-draft-constitutional-charter-for-the-2019-transitional-period/ , archive-date= 2021-04-28 , url-status=live]
[{{cite web , last1 = FFC, last2 = TMC , author1-link = Forces of Freedom and Change , author2-link = Transitional Military Council (2019) , title = (الدستوري Declaration (العربية)) , trans-title = (Constitutional Declaration) , language = ar , website= raisethevoices.org , date =2019-08-04 , url = http://raisethevoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/sudan-amendment.pdf , accessdate = 2019-08-05 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805170905/http://raisethevoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/sudan-amendment.pdf , archive-date= 2019-08-05 , url-status=live]
[{{cite news , title= SRF rebels, Sudan govt sign agreement in Juba , date= 2019-10-21 , newspaper= ]Radio Dabanga
Radio Dabanga (Arabic: راديو دبنقا) is a shortwave radio station, TV and online news magazine, that serves Sudan with daily reports on the latest political, economic and social information, including health issues and social programs ...
, url= https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/srf-rebels-sudan-govt-sign-agreement-in-juba , accessdate=2019-10-22 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191022193959/https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/srf-rebels-sudan-govt-sign-agreement-in-juba , archive-date= 2019-10-22 , url-status=live
2011 establishments in Sudan
Rebel groups in Sudan
Rebel groups that actively control territory