(REUTERS UPDATES ON SUDAN)
April 24, 2019: Members of military council resign
Moments after a meeting between the military and protest leaders, the military council announced that three members of the ruling body had resigned.
They were Lieutenant General Omar Zain al-Abdin, Lieutenant General Jalaluddin Al-Sheikh and Lieutenant General Al-Tayieb Babikir.
The resignations came after the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the main protest organiser, called for a million-strong march to take place on Thursday.
One of the SPA’s demands was that the three lieutenant-generals, Abideen, Fadeel and Sheikh, be dismissed and tried over their alleged role in a crackdown that killed dozens of protesters.
April 24, 2019: Sudan military ‘reaches deal’ with protesters
Three members of Sudan’s ruling military council resigned Wednesday after it said it reached “agreement on most demands” with protest leaders who have called for a million-strong march to demand a civilian government.
The 10-member military council had invited the protest leaders for a meeting after the leaders suspended talks with the army rulers on Sunday.
“We have an agreement on most demands presented in the document of the Alliance for Freedom and Change,” Lieutenant General Shamseddine Kabbashi, spokesman of the ruling military council, told reporters after the meeting between the council and leaders of the umbrella group leading the protest movement.
He did not elaborate on the key demand of handing power to a civilian government, but said there “were no big disputes”.
One of the protest leaders who attended the meeting, Ahmed al-Rabia, said the two sides had also agreed to form a joint committee. The joint committee will be tasked with resolving disagreements between the protesters and military council.
“The Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change decided to respond to the invitation and listen with an open mind to what the president of the military council will propose, asserting that our desire is the peaceful transfer to a transitional civilian authority that reflects the forces of the revolution,” the SPA said in a statement.
April 23, 2019: African leaders give Sudan three months to reform
African leaders meeting in Cairo on Tuesday agreed to give Sudan’s ruling military council three months to implement democratic reforms, amid pressure for a quick handover of power to civilians.
The decision extends a 15-day deadline set by the African Union last week for Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) to hand over power to civilians or to be suspended from the grouping. The TMC took over after President Omar al-Bashir was ousted on April 11.
Any suspension of Sudan’s AU membership could affect the TMC’s efforts to win international recognition as the country’s legitimate rulers during an interim period of up to two years, and thus delay any aid to the country that has been trying to cope with a dire economic crisis.
The TMC has been under pressure from demonstrators to hand power rapidly to civilians since the military ousted Bashir following months of protests against his 30 years in office.
Speaking at the end of a summit attended by several African heads of state, Sisi said that the meeting agreed on the need to deal with the situation in Sudan by working to “quickly restore the constitutional system through a political democratic process led and managed by the Sudanese themselves”.
Sisi, who holds the rotating African Union presidency, said that the African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat had briefed the meeting on his recent talks in Khartoum.
“We agreed on the need to give more time to Sudanese authorities and Sudanese parties to implement these measures,” Sisi told the meeting.
A Sudanese and a Western diplomat head had earlier said that the TMC wanted a period of three to six months to continue its discussions with protesters and opposition groups to hammer out an agreement on how to run the transitional period.
The TMC has resisted pressure to hand power to civilians, but has said it was ready to accept a civilian government of technocrats to run the country during an interim period of up to two years that would prepare for a presidential election.
But protesters say the proposal would leave ultimate power in the hands of the military, demanding that the ruling council be staffed by civilians with military representation.
REUTERS
April 18, 2019: US backs calls for civilian-led transition
The United States has reiterated its call for the military to handover power to a civilian-led transition body saying they supported what the Sudanese people wanted.
Its latest statement on the post-Bashir crisis was issued by the Department of State on Thursday – the same day that a massive protest rocked the capital, Khartoum.
In the course of this week, the African Union has given a stern warning to the Transitional Military Council over possible expulsion from the continental bloc.
Ousted president Omar al-Bashir has been transferred to a maximum security prison in Khartoum. Two of his brothers have also been detained according to the military as part of efforts to “uproot symbols of the regime.”
April 17, 2019: Bashir arrives in Khartoum prison
Deposed president Omar al-Bashir has been transferred from detention into a maximum security jail, Kobar, located in the capital, Khartoum.
Reuters reports that he is being kept in solitary confinement under heavy security. A family relation confirmed the development to the AFP News agency.
It is the most significant news on the former leader since he was ousted last week by the military. The military on Monday dismissed reports that he could be handed over to the International Criminal Court, ICC.
Meanwhile, the Transitional Military Council, TMC, continues to engage protest leaders on a way forward in post-Bashir Sudan. The pressure to transfer power to a civilian government meanwhile continues.
The African Union after an April 15 expulsion threat by its Peace and Security Council reiterated its position when its head Moussa Faki Mahamat met with a TMC delegation yesterday, April 16.
Leader of the TMC, Abdel Fattah Burhan on the same day met with special envoys from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – the two Gulf nations have pledged support for the people of Sudan.
“Chairman of the Transitional Military Council, praised the distinguished relations between the Sudan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and the eternal ties that bind their peoples,” state-run SUNA agency said on Twitter.
They added that a message of support had also come from Egypt, whose president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, currently chairman of the African Union, AU, has said he was ready to visit Sudan in the coming days.
April 14, 2019: Military begs for international support
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry is appealing for international support to back the military rulers who took power after ousting long-serving president Omar al-Bashir.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking forward to the international community to understand the situation and to support the transitional military council … in order to achieve the Sudanese goal of democratic transition,” its statement said.
The military said last week that it was due to operate a two-year- transition after which it would hand over power to elected representatives.
Bashir’s last Defense Minister was sworn in as leader of the military transition council but in less that 48-hours Awad ibn Auf resigned his position giving way to a new leader in Abdelfattah Burhan Abdelrahman, a former inspector general of the army.
Protesters meanwhile continue to pile pressure for an immediate return to civilian rule. A former intelligence chief also announced his resignation yesterday in what is seen as part of protester demands.
