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Sudan protesters tear down roadblocks, want army to resume talks
KHARTOUM, May 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Hundreds of demonstrators worked through
the night into Friday clearing away bricks and debris, after military rulers
demanded that roadblocks which have paralysed parts of Khartoum must be
dismantled before talks on a new transitional body can resume.
The ruling military council suspended crucial talks Wednesday with protest
leaders for 72 hours, insisting that the security in the capital had
deteriorated after demonstrators erected roadblocks on several avenues.
The council’s decision came as army generals and protest leaders were due
to meet to finalise the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for a
transitional period of three years.
The issue is the thorniest to have come up in ongoing talks on reinstating
civilian rule after the generals took over following the ouster of autocratic
president Omar al-Bashir last month.
But for the final talks to happen the military council chief, General Abdel
Fattah al-Burhan, demanded that protesters dismantle roadblocks, open bridges
and railway lines connecting the capital and “stop provoking security
forces”.
In the early hours of Friday, hundreds of demonstrators chanting
revolutionary slogans tore down roadblocks on Nile Street, a key avenue, that
had paralysed downtown Khartoum for several days.
“If our demand is not met, we will return to rebuild the barricade,” a
visibly angry protester told AFP as behind him demonstrators cleared away
bricks and debris.
– ‘Regrettable’ decision –
Protesters had erected the barricades to pressure the military rulers when
talks commenced on Monday, but the roadblocks triggered clashes between
demonstrators and security forces according to witnesses.
The military council said roadblocks across Khartoum are “totally
unacceptable”, but the generals will allow barricades set up by protesters
outside the army headquarters to remain and a sit-in there to continue.
Sudanese protesters attended prayers near the military headquarters Friday,
sitting on mats placed in rows on the street.
Talks between the two sides achieved significant breakthroughs on Monday,
but were marred by violence which left five protesters and an army major
dead.
Protesters blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, but Burhan said
there were “armed elements among demonstrators who were shooting at security
forces.”
The United States and Britain said the authorities were responsible for the
violence.
The Alliance for Freedom and Change, which is leading the protest
movement, said the move to suspend talks was “regrettable”.
“It ignores the developments achieved in negotiations so far… and the
fact that Wednesday’s meeting was to finalise the agreement, which would have
stopped the escalations such as roadblocks.”
– Thorny issue –
The protest movement vowed to press on with the sit-in, and has also urged
supporters to converge at the army headquarters where thousands have been
camped out for weeks.
Protesters are demanding a civilian-led transition, which the generals have
steadfastly resisted since bowing to demonstrators’ demands and toppling
Bashir.
During the first two days of talks the two sides had agreed on an overall
civilian structure, including a three-year period for the full transfer of
power to a civilian administration.
They had also agreed that parliament be composed of 300 members for the
transition, with around two-thirds from the alliance and the rest drawn from
other political groups.
But the make-up of the new sovereign council has been the toughest part of
the negotiations, with the two sides so far proposing different compositions
of the body.
The council is expected to take all key decisions concerning national
issues and the generals want it to be military-led, while the protesters
insist it have a civilian majority.
The body is expected to form a transitional civilian government, which
would then prepare for the first post-Bashir election after changeover period
ends.
BSS/AFP/RY/1743 hrs