Khartoum Peace Agreement of 1997

The Khartoum Peace Agreement of 1997 was an agreement made on 21 April 1997 between the Khartoum-based government of Sudan and various militia leaders from South Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). The agreement formalized principles that had been agreed in a political charter signed in Khartoum on 10 April 1996.

The militia groups and their leaders were the South Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM) (Riek Machar Teny), the Union of Sudan African Parties (Samuel Aru Bol), the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) ( Kerubino Kuanyin Bol), the Equatoria Defense Force (Thiopholus Ochang Loti) and the South Sudan Independents Group (Kawac Makwei). Although Kerubino Kuanyin Bol signed on behalf of the SPLM, he had in fact been expelled from that group in 1987 on suspicion of planning a coup against John Garang, and been jailed for five years. After escaping, Kerubino had joined up with Riek Machar, but early in 1995 Riek dismissed Kerubino from his South Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM) on the basis that he had signed military and political agreements with the government of Sudan late in the previous year, and that they had attempted to form a government-supported faction in the SSIM.

The agreement covered freedom of religion, movement and so on, and defined a federal structure with a formula for revenue sharing and with various powers devolved to the individual states. The agreement defined a four-year interim period to recover from the civil war in the southern states, with a Coordinating Council of the Southern States to oversee the transition. Riek Machar was made President of the Southern States Coordinating Council. He was also made commander in chief of the South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF), which included most of the ex-rebels who had signed the Khartoum agreement. The SSDF would maintain autonomy from the army, subject to a joint Technical Military Committee to coordinate between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the SSDF. A referendum on secession by Southern Sudan would be held before the end of the interim period, with international observers.

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