JUDY WOODRUFF: There was celebration in the streets of Sudan today after the ruling military council reached an agreement with the country's pro-democracy movement. It settled a power dispute by creating a joint council to rule the country for the next three years. Scores of opposition protesters have been killed in a violent crackdown since President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April. Yousra Elbagir of Independent Television News has our report.
YOUSRA ELBAGIR: The sounds of undulation, usually heard at wedding, celebrating an unlikely union. A fresh start for Sudan; this man says, following the long-awaited agreement between the military junta and the opposition. In the late hours of last night, they announced the formation of a civilian government headed by a prime minister and a sovereign council with five out of 11 members confirmed to be civilian.
OMAR AL-DEGAIR, Opposition Leader (through translator): This agreement opens the way to transitional bodies that will bring reform, in all aspects, the first of which is the issue of peace and the independent transparent investigation and punishment of the killers of the martyrs.
YOUSRA ELBAGIR: And these are the martyrs he's referring to: the victims of the deadly dispersal of Sudan's mass pro-democracy sit-in by the troops of this man, militia leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, notorious for war crimes in Darfur and now the face of the military council.
MOHAMED HAMDAN DAGALO, Deputy Head,®MD-BO¯ Transitional Military Council (through translator): We would like to reassure all political forces, armed movements, and all those who participated in the change from young men and women this agreement will be comprehensive, and will not exclude anyone, and will also reach up to the ambitions of the Sudanese people and its pure revolution.
YOUSRA ELBAGIR: In an act that can only be described as political theater, 235 prisoners of a Darfuri rebel group were pardoned. And this morning, the streets of the capital celebrated, but underneath the euphoria is an undercurrent of mistrust.
MAN (through translator): The official opposition is the leadership But the real leadership is the street. Today, they formed a council. If we like it, then fine, but if we don't like it, then our tools of protest are still in place. We are ready to activate, escalate and start over. At the end of the day, our government will be a civilian one, no matter what.
YOUSRA ELBAGIR: Eyes will now be on the military to fill their end of the bargain, and to the dethroned Islamists that have been sidelined in this process. The agreement has yet to be signed and the future of Sudan is far from sealed.
JUDY WOODRUFF: That was Yousra Elbagir of Independent Television News reporting.