Islamist parties that supported the Bashir regime are now facing challenges
As members of Sudan’s Islamist Popular Congress party arrived for a meeting in Khartoum one Saturday afternoon, they were greeted by abuse from groups of young protesters and chants of “no to Islamists”.
In the scuffles that followed, both sides threw stones. Dozens were injured and more than a hundred were arrested.
Continue reading...Despite Omar al-Bahir’s fall, most know their revolution is unfinished and still vulnerable
On the day in late March when Habeb Ali Yousif was released from three months in detention, his jailers dragged out the process.
When he eventually arrived back home, the Sudanese democracy activist discovered why: his wife, Sulaf Osam Baloul, had been seized.
Continue reading...Role of military remains sticking point amid fears of former regime loyalists retaining power
Sudan’s powerful generals and opposition leaders have agreed in principle to the formation of joint civilian-military council to lead the country’s political transition following three decades of autocratic rule by former president Omar al-Bashir.
However, in the latest evidence of the sharp challenges facing Sudan, the two sides failed to agree on how big a role the generals would have on the new council.
Continue reading...In Sudan’s fresh minted revolution it is not only the country’s old military guard, once associated with the deposed former president Omar al-Bashir, whom protesters view with deep suspicion.
Last week the Egyptian embassy in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, was also the scene of protests and chants aimed at President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. “Tell Sisi,” the crowd shouted. “This is Sudan! [Egypt’s] borders stop at Aswan!”
Continue reading...Remnants of former Bashir regime face a street movement demanding real change
Salah Elsir came to the protest camp outside Sudan’s military headquarters in Khartoum three days ago, riding the “freedom train” from Atbara, the birthplace in December of the country’s revolution against the regime of the former dictator, Omar al-Bashir.
A 28-year-old artist from a family of railway workers, Elsir’s brother Elshazli was one of the organisers of the train that rolled slowly into the city centre on Tuesday, its roof crowded with banner-waving activists to a reception both tearful and joyous.
Continue reading...Seizure of officials from Omar al-Bashir’s NCP appears to be aimed at placating protesters
Sudanese authorities have arrested several members of the former ruling party of the ousted president Omar al-Bashir, an official of Bashir’s National Congress party (NCP) has said.
Sudan’s attorney general has also asked the country’s intelligence and national security agencies to lift the immunity of a number of their officers suspected of killing a teacher who died in custody after protests in February, according to the state news agency.
Continue reading...Large numbers of people join a protest outside Sudan’s defence ministry to demand that the country’s transitional military council hand over power to civilians. The crowds were the largest since Omar al-Bashir was ousted last week after almost 30 years in power and the military council took over.
Protesters chanted: ‘Freedom and revolution are the choice of the people’ and ‘civilian rule, civilian rule’, and waved national flags. Some soldiers were seen joining the protest, firing rifles as the crowds cheered them on.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands converge on defence ministry demanding military hand over power
Huge crowds formed outside Sudan’s defence ministry to demand the country’s transitional military council hand over power to civilians.
Hundreds of thousands packed the streets by early evening on Thursday – the largest crowds to gather in the centre of the capital since last week, when the former president Omar al-Bashir was ousted and the military council took over.
Continue reading...Ousted leader is being held in solitary confinement in the notorious Kobar prison
Deposed ex-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been moved to Khartoum’s grim high-security Kobar prison from the presidential residence, family sources said on Wednesday, as military rulers announced steps to crack down on corruption.
Bashir, 75, had been detained under heavy guard in the presidential residence inside the compound that also houses the defence ministry, before being transferred to Kobar prison late on Tuesday, the sources said. He was being held in solitary confinement at Kobar, a prison source said.
Continue reading...Prosecutor general fired in latest concession by transitional council
Military rulers in Sudan have sacked a further slew of senior officials after pressure from protesters.
The move is the latest concession by the army-led transitional council, which took power last week following the fall of Omar al-Bashir after 30 years in power, and has since faced fierce pressure to rapidly give way to a civilian government.
Continue reading...Demonstrators say they formed a ring around sit-in zone to stop troops clearing the area
Sudanese protesters have moved to block an apparent attempt to break up their sit-in outside the defence ministry in Khartoum, where demonstrators have been pushing for a quick transition to civilian rule after Omar al-Bashir was ousted as president, a witness has said.
Protesters said they had joined hands and formed a ring around the sit-in area after troops had gathered on three sides and tractors were preparing to remove stone and metal barricades.
Continue reading...Pete Townshend may not appear, at first glance, to be connected to the tumultuous events in Sudan. But it was the Who’s lead guitarist who famously celebrated popular insurrection in the 1971 hit, Won’t Get Fooled Again, whose lyrics he wrote. Here’s how a bit of it goes: “I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution/ Take a bow for the new revolution... Then I’ll get on my knees and pray/ We don’t get fooled again.”
After inducing the army to oust Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s unpopular president, well-organised opponents of the military regime, evidently no fools, are not trusting solely to prayer. On Friday, they forced the resignation of the coup leader, Awad Ibn Auf. Now they wait, camped on the streets, to see if his replacement – another general, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – can satisfy their insistence on civilian-led government.
Continue reading...Salih Ghosh, who led protests crackdown, resigns a day after interim leader stepped down
The protest movement in Sudan has won a series of fresh victories, with the country’s powerful military moving to replace the controversial transitional leader and spy chief following street rallies demanding officials linked to the former regime stand down.
Salih Ghosh, who led a sweeping crackdown against demonstrators over recent months, resigned on Saturday, a communique from the new military-led transitional council said.
Continue reading...Public defiance crosses religious divides as protesters in Khartoum sustain united call for military to relinquish power
In front of the military headquarters in Khartoum, where protesters have refused to leave following the ousting of president Omar al-Bashir, came an extraordinary show of support.
In stifling heat, a group of Coptic Christians – a minority and persecuted group in Sudan – set up shelters to allow their fellow Muslim protesters to pray away from the glare of the Friday morning sun, and without leaving the spot they’ve occupied since Saturday.
Continue reading...New military rulers say they plan to give power to civilian government in two years
A pledge by Sudan’s ruling military council to hand over power to a civilian government has been rejected by the country’s main protest group, which said the army was “not capable of creating change”.
In a press conference broadcast on state television, Omar Zein Abideen, a senior army officer and member of the military council, said Sudan’s new rulers had no ambition to hold on to power and had intervened to remove President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday in response to the wishes of the people.
Continue reading...Demonstrators in Khartoum insist a civilian government must replace Omar al-Bashir
As rumours spread that their long-time ruler was finally on his way out, the atmosphere on the streets of Khartoum was victorious.
“The regime has fallen,” people chanted. Flags waved, people danced and sang, and everyone’s hands were up in victory signs. “Freedom, peace and justice,” read one banner. On Wednesday morning, it seemed that the long-fought battle for these values might be on the point of being won.
Continue reading...After a 30-year rule Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, has been ousted from power by the military. The move is the culmination of months of protests, which led to activists occupying a crossroads in the centre of Khartoum for five days. However, thousands of people continued to pack the streets on Thursday afternoon, as protest organisers rejected the army’s announcement that Bashir would be replaced by a military-led transitional council
Continue reading...On Thursday Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan in autocratic style for 30 years, was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the armed forces, said Sudan's defence minister, Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, in a televised address. He also announced a two-year period of military rule to be followed by presidential elections.
Continue reading...President arrested after months of protests that escalated with mass sit-in on Saturday
Sudan’s army has removed President Omar al-Bashir from power after 30 years, following months of protests that escalated at the weekend when demonstrators began a sit-in outside the defence ministry compound in central Khartoum.
Bashir had been arrested “in a safe place”, the Sudanese defence minster and army general Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf said in a statement broadcast on state media. A military council will take control of the country for two years, after which elections would be held, Ibn Auf added.
Continue reading...Crowds took to the streets in Kashmir on Thursday, as the army said it had removed President Omar al-Bashir from power after 30 years in charge. We take a look at the best images from the capital, Khartoum
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