Abdel-Basset Sabdarat told reporters Wednesday that President Omar Bashir ordered the release as part of a truce agreement signed Tuesday with Darfur’s most powerful rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement.

The rebels had been imprisoned for their part in an attack on the Sudanese capital in 2008.

Hundreds of Sudanese gathered in front of Coper prison outside Khartoum to welcome the freed men.

JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim said Wednesday that the rebel group would release government soldiers it holds.