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Sudan coup: Civilians reject army's 'tactical retreat'

Sudan coup: Civilians reject army's 'tactical retreat' and call for more protests
MENA
2 min read
Sudanese protesters rejected what they called a 'transparent manoeuvre' by the country's military leaders, who vowed this week to make way for civilian rule. The demonstrators instead called for 'continue public pressure' on the coup leaders.
Sudanese have been taking to the streets in nearly weekly protest against the October military takeover [source: Getty]

Sudan's main civilian bloc, the Forces for Freedom of Change, on Tuesday urged for more protests and rejected a proposal by the country's coup leader to make way for civilian rule.

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, whose coup last year ousted the FFC, had vowed on Monday to "make room" for civilian powers to form a new transition government.

But the FCC called for "continued public pressure" on the streets and labelled Burhan's move a "tactical retreat and a transparent manoeuvre".

MENA
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Sudanese military authorities have met the near-weekly street protests since the coup with a crackdown that has so far killed 113 people, including 18 children.

Sudan has been plunged into turmoil since the October 25 military takeover upended its short-lived transition to democracy after three decades of repressive rule by former president Omar al-Bashir.

Al-Bashir and his Islamist-backed government were removed by the military in a popular uprising in April 2019.

Since the coup, the UN political mission in Sudan, the African Union and the eight-nation east African regional Intergovernmental Authority in Development group have been trying to broker a way out of the political impasse. But talks have yielded no results so far. Pro-democracy groups have repeatedly said they will not negotiate with the military, and have called for them to immediately hand the reins to a civilian government.