Sudan's deposed prime minister and the top general that ousted him a month ago on Sunday signed a breakthrough deal to reverse the military takeover, AFP reported.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan appeared at the presidential palace in Khartoum for a televised ceremony with Premier Abdalla Hamdok, emerging from weeks of house arrest.
The 14-point deal they signed officially restores the transition to civilian rule that had been derailed by the October 25 coup.
The agreement, which comes after crisis talks involving Sudanese, UN, African and Western players, stated that Burhan's decision "to relieve the transitional prime minister (of his duties) is cancelled".
It said all political detainees would be freed, and formally relaunched the fragile transition process towards full democracy that started after the 2019 ouster of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Hamdok praised the people power "revolution" that brought him to government and declared the top priority now was to "stop the bloodshed in Sudan before anything else".
"We leave the choice of who rules Sudan to its mighty people," he said, according to AFP.
Burhan thanked Hamdok for his service and vowed that "free and transparent elections" would be held as part of the transition process.
The deal was welcomed by the African Union, the United Nations, Sweden and also Saudi Arabia and Egypt who have strong ties with the Sudanese military.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he is “encouraged by reports that talks in Khartoum will lead to the release of all political prisoners, reinstatement of Prime Minister Hamdok, lifting of the state of emergency, and resumption of coordination.”
“I urge all sides to further talks and redouble efforts to complete key transitional tasks on a civilian-led path to democracy in Sudan. I also reiterate our call for security forces to refrain from excessive force against peaceful protesters,” he added.