A timeline of the developments in Sudan's transition to civilian rule. — AFP
At Khartoum's central market early Saturday, shoppers and stallholders interviewed by AFP all said they hoped a civilian government would help them put food on the table.
Residents old and young were eager to exercise their newfound freedom of expression.
“I'm 72 and for 30 years under Bashir, I had nothing to feel good about.
Now, thanks to God, I am starting to breathe,” said Ali Issa Abdel Momen, sitting in front of his modest selection of vegetables at the market.
But many Sudanese are already questioning the ability of the transitional institutions to rein in the military elite's powers during the three-year period leading to planned elections.
End of isolation?
The country of 40 million people will be ruled by the 11-member sovereign council and a government, which under the deal must be dominated by civilians.
However, the interior and defence ministers are to be chosen by military members of the council.
Observers have warned that the transitional government will have little leverage to counter any attempt by the military to roll back the uprising's achievements and seize back power.
When he walked out of the Friendship Hall after signing the declaration, the general seen as Sudan's new strongman, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, was met with a hostile crowd.
Members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces he commands shielded him back to his car as the crowd saw him off, chanting “blood for blood”.
They were referring to the alleged role played by his men in the bloody crackdown on a June 3 sit-in that doctors say left at least 127 dead and 11 missing.
Security forces deployed across Khartoum Saturday for the biggest international event in years in Sudan, which had become something of a pariah country under Bashir's rule.
One of the most immediate diplomatic consequences of the compromise reached this month could be Sudan's return to the African Union, which suspended the country's membership in June.
Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide in the Darfur region, had been slated to appear in court Saturday on corruption charges.
But his trial has been postponed to an as yet undetermined date.