CAIRO — The protests against Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir’s rule erupted on Dec. 19, 2018. The power-sharing agreement was signed Aug. 17 between Sudan’s transitional military council and the opposition representatives. Cairo, however, has not been distant from what has been happening in neighboring Sudan and has acted as a catalyst in advancing understandings between the parties to the conflict.

The power-sharing agreement was signed in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly, which provided for establishing a civilian-majority and military transitional ruling council to pave the way for the election of a civilian government. During the signing, Madbouly confirmed Egypt’s support for the agreement and the choices of the Sudanese people, and that the upcoming period, under the rule of the ruling council, would witness “an unprecedented shift” in bilateral relations between the two countries.

“Egypt contributed in bringing together the different points of view, whether through telephone conversations or meetings with the different [Sudanese parties]. This support will hopefully continue until Sudan recovers politically and economically,” Yasser al-Atta, chairman of the Political Committee of the Sudanese Military Transitional Council, said Aug. 18 during a phone interview on TeN satellite channel.

On Aug. 10, Cairo also hosted a meeting between Sudan’s Forces of Freedom and Change alliance and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) for two days of negotiations on the SRF demands that the peace agreement, which was concluded with the alliance in Addis Ababa July 20, be included in the Constitutional Declaration. The negotiations led to nowhere and both sides agreed to continue the dialogue, either in Khartoum or in another country.