Published: Sat, April 13, 2019
Worldwide | By Isabel Fisher

Protesters Keep Pressure on Sudan's Army After Bashir Ousted

Protesters Keep Pressure on Sudan's Army After Bashir Ousted

Thousands kept up their sit-in outside the Khartoum military headquarters overnight and into the morning, despite the curfew.

Ibnouf said a transitional military council would replace the president for two years, adding that the country's borders and airspace were shut until further notice.

Sudan's defense minister announced the takeover on state television Thursday, after the army ousted the country's longtime president, Omar al-Bashir, following months of demonstrations against his 30-year iron-fisted rule.

Zein Abedeen, who is on the military transitional council which took over after overthrowing al-Bashir on Thursday, also insisted the army has no ambition to hold the reins of power for long.

"The president is now in custody", the head of the military council's political committee, Lieutenant General Omar Zain al-Abdin, told a news conference.

Sudan's last elected prime minister, opposition Umma party leader, Sadiq al-Mahdi, who was overthrown by Bashir in a military coup in 1989, was expected to address supporters after prayers at one of Omdurman's most revered mosques. "The forces that are seeking reforms have specific demands on following the democratic path that will solve the corruption issue and other problems that resulted from the rule of the salvation government [of former President Omar Bashir]", Youssef said. He said al-Bashir's top government members, including the vice president and associates, were also under arrest but again, didn't elaborate.

The U.S. placed him under sanctions in 2007 for his role in the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region, where he liaised between the government and the Janjaweed, a militia notorious for its attacks on civilians.

Chants by the protesters since the military council's announcement have often focused on how close its members were to Bashir in the very recent past.

Ousted Sudanese strongman Omar Al-Bashir.

Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan will be the new head of the transitional council, Ibn Auf said in a speech broadcast on state TV on Friday.

After arresting al-Bashir, the military suspended the constitution, dissolved the government, imposed a nighttime curfew and declared a three-month state of emergency.

Sudan has seen months of protests that erupted in the country in December.

In March 2009, ICC slapped Al-Bashir with the first warrant of arrest on five counts of crimes against humanity in Darfur, where his troops quelled a rebellion in 2013.

He pledged the military would stay in power only as long as it was needed. At least 38 people have died in the protests. Mohammed Hamadati, the commander, said talks are needed so Sudan would "avoid slipping into chaos".

Karim is skeptical that Sudan's new leadership will make real changes, due to their links to the same atrocities Bashir is accused of.

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