The streets of Sudan continue to flood with thousands of protesters as the country faces having its third leader in as many days.
Demonstrators marched with national flags outside the army headquarters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum yesterday demanding a civilian body to lead the country’s transition to democracy.
Sudan’s second new military leader vowed on Saturday to ‘uproot’ deposed president Omar al-Bashir’s regime and release protesters, in a bid to placate demonstrators demanding civilian rule.
‘I announce the restructuring of state institutions according to the law and pledge to fight corruption and uproot the regime and its symbols,’ General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said, a day after he was sworn in to head Sudan’s new ruling military council.
He also ordered the release of all prisoners jailed by special emergency courts and the immediate lifting of a night-time curfew imposed by the council earlier this week.
Career soldier Burhan took the helm of Sudan’s transitional military council on Friday when his predecessor General Awad Ibn Ouf – a close aide of ousted veteran president Bashir – quit after little more than 24 hours in power.
Burhan also pledged Saturday that individuals implicated in killing protesters would face justice.
Dozens of protesters were killed and thousands of activists, opposition leaders and journalists arrested.
The police said
In a statement Saturday evening, Burhan said the deputy chief of the NISS was a member of the newly formed 10-member council which also includes the police chief and military figures.
Burhan named as the council’s deputy Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, who is also known as Himeidti, field commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) counter-insurgency unit, which rights groups have accused of abuses in war-torn Darfur.
A photograph published by state news agency SUNA had shown Burhan talking with protesters outside army headquarters on Friday, before his elevation to the top job.
Khartoum erupted with joy when Ibn Ouf tendered his resignation on Friday night barely 24 hours after taking the oath of office.
But protest organisers urged demonstrators to keep up their week-old vigil outside army headquarters.
Ibn Ouf had served as Bashir’s defence minister right up to the president’s downfall, ending three decades of iron-fisted rule.