2 yıl önce

Sudan coup leader: New PM to be appointed within week

The announcement came as furious anti-coup protesters vowed to press ahead with a campaign of civil disobedience, following deadly clashes with security forces during demonstrations against a widely condemned military takeover.

Reuters

The coup was the latest in the impoverished country, which has experienced only rare democratic interludes since independence in 1956 and spent decades riven by civil war.

The Sudanese general who seized power in a coup this week has announced that the military he heads will appoint a technocrat prime minister to rule alongside it within days.

In an interview with Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency published on Friday, Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the new premier will form a cabinet that will share leadership of the country with the armed forces.

“We have a patriotic duty to lead the people and help them in the transition period until elections are held," Burhan said in the interview. He said that as long as expected protests are peaceful, “security forces will not intervene.”

Furious Sudanese anti-coup protesters vowed to press ahead on Friday with a campaign of civil disobedience, following deadly clashes with security forces during demonstrations against a widely condemned military takeover.

At least eight people have been killed and 170 wounded in protests since the army's power grab earlier this week, including one demonstrator who died in violence overnight Thursday when security forces fired tear gas and live and rubber-tipped bullets, according to medics.

As the country braces for major demonstrations planned for Saturday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the military "to show restraint and not to create any more victims", saying people "must be allowed to demonstrate peacefully".

Deepening political crisis

General Burhan – Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al Bashir after huge youth-led protests – on Monday dissolved the country's civilian-led government and ordered the arrest of several top officials.

Sudan had been ruled since August 2019 by a joint civilian-military council, alongside Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's administration, as part of the now stalled transition to full civilian rule.

Hamdok has been placed under effective house arrest, while other civilian leaders are in military detention. The capital has been rocked by days of unrest.

"Confronting peaceful protesters with gunfire is something that should not be tolerated," said protester Haitham Mohamed in Khartoum.

"It will not make us back down; it only strengthens our resolve."

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies