Daily Times

Sudan’s new military rulers on Sunday rejected a demand by protest leaders to hand over power immediately to a civilian government that will bring deposed leader Omar Al-Bashir to justice.

Thousands of protesters remained camped outside army headquarters in Khartoum to keep up pressure on the transitional military council that took power after ousting Bashir on Thursday.

As the protesters made their demands, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain pledged their support for the transitional council in bringing stability to Sudan. Riyadh also announced a package of humanitarian aid, including petroleum products, wheat and medicines.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which is organizing and leading the protests, called on the military council “to immediately transfer power to a civilian government.”

It also urged the next “transitional government and the armed forces to bring Bashir and all the chiefs of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS)… to justice.

“The Sudanese Professionals Association calls on its supporters to continue with the sit-in until the revolution achieves its demands.”

The political parties and movements behind the four months of protests said in a joint statement late on Saturday that they will remain in the streets until their demands are met. They said the handover to civilian rule would be the “first step toward the fall of the regime.”

The army has appointed a military council that it says will rule for two years or less while elections are being organized. The council met with a delegation of protest organizers on Saturday.

Omer El-Digair, leader of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party, told the protests outside the military headquarters in Khartoum after Saturday’s meeting that the atmosphere was “positive.”

“We demanded restructuring the current security apparatus,” he said. “We do not need a security apparatus that detains people and shuts off newspapers.”

The political parties and movements behind the four months of protests said in a joint statement late on Saturday that they will remain in the streets until their demands are met. They said the handover to civilian rule would be the “first step toward the fall of the regime.”