(Bloomberg) --

Members of Sudan’s cabinet resigned, clearing the way for a new government that could include rebels who are set to sign a historic deal to end years of conflict in the African nation.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok will form a replacement administration, the cabinet said in a statement Thursday, shortly after some current ministers submitted their resignations.

The move comes as the Sudanese Revolutionary Front, a coalition of rebel groups, visited the capital, Khartoum, to finalize a peace pact with the transitional government. Yasir Arman, secretary-general of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, said the insurgents are set to take senior government positions.

The overthrow of long-term dictator Omar al-Bashir last year has sparked fresh hopes that the conflicts in the western region of Darfur and two southern states could finally be resolved. Bashir, who treated insurgencies with an iron fist during his three-decade rule, was indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes for his part in the Darfur conflict.

Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, is being run by an uneasy coalition of civilian and military figures as it prepares for democratic elections slated for 2022.

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