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SUDAN-UNREST
Sudan military admits dispersing sit-in, says ‘mistakes happened’
KHARTOUM, June 14, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sudan’s ruling military council
Thursday for the first time admitted it dispersed a Khartoum sit-in, which
left dozens dead, as US and African diplomats stepped up efforts for a
solution to the country’s political crisis.
Protesters had staged the weeks-long sit-in outside army headquarters in
Khartoum, first calling for the ouster of veteran leader Omar al-Bashir then
for the military council that took his place to hand power to a civilian
administration.
But on June 3, days after talks between protest leaders and the military
collapsed, armed men in military fatigues broke up the camp in an operation
that doctors said left 120 people dead. The health ministry has put the death
toll for that day at 61 nationwide.
The military council had “decided to disperse the sit-in”, said spokesman
Shamseddine Kabbashi.
“We ordered the commanders to come up with a plan to disperse this sit-in.
They made a plan and implemented it … but we regret that some mistakes
happened.”
Later at the end of the conference Kabbashi said that the plan was to clear
a nearby area called Colombia, usually inhabited by drug peddlers, but then
“we regret what happened”.
He said the findings of an investigation into the incident would be
released on Saturday.
Kabbashi also claimed “more than one coup attempt had been planned” against
the military council but were prevented in recent days, with “two groups of
officers” taken into custody.
Kabbashi’s comments came after protesters, who had staged a nationwide
civil disobedience movement to demand civilian rule, agreed Tuesday to end
the campaign and resume talks with the generals.
Traffic jams have returned to downtown Khartoum and some shops in the
capital’s famous gold market began to reopen Thursday as more residents and
office employees ventured out.
Fewer troops and members of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces,
accused by protesters and rights groups of leading the crackdown, were on the
streets in downtown Khartoum, according to an AFP correspondent who toured
parts of the capital.
But they were deployed in force in the northern district of Bahari, a
bastion of protests against the military council and Bashir, who on Thursday
was charged with corruption.
“Today is my first day to work after the campaign ended but I’m not in the
mood to work,” said Suheir Hassan, an employee at a government office.
“On my way I passed by the sit-in area and remembered that all those voices
who used to chant revolutionary slogans have now disappeared.”
– US efforts for solution –
Following Ethiopian mediation efforts, Washington’s newly appointed special
envoy to Sudan, Donald Booth, and the assistant secretary of state for
Africa, Tibor Nagy, met military council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
on Thursday.
Burhan told the envoys that Sudan and its people had a positive view of US
efforts to reach a political settlement, according to a statement released by
the military council.
Washington said Booth had been named to help craft a “peaceful solution” to
the crisis that has rocked the northeast African country.
The Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella protest movement said its
leaders had briefed the two US officials on Wednesday on the need for a
transparent investigation into the June 3 killings.
They also called for the withdrawal of “militias” from the streets in
Khartoum and other towns, the lifting of an internet blockade and the
establishment of a civilian administration, it said in a statement.
The African Union, which suspended Sudan following the crackdown, said
global efforts were being made to resolve the crisis.
The AU’s special envoy to Sudan, Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, said an
international team of diplomats was working to resolve the crisis and that
separate discussions with the two sides were “moving forward”.
– Demand for guarantees –
The US diplomats were also expected to meet with top envoys from Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in Khartoum.
Experts say the three key regional powers back the generals.
Days after Bashir’s overthrow in April, Saudi Arabia and the UAE offered a
$3-billion aid package to Khartoum, including a $500-million cash injection
into the central bank to help support the Sudanese pound, which has plunged
against the dollar.
The country’s worsening economic crisis was one initial trigger for
protests against Bashir’s three-decade rule.
On Thursday, prosecutors charged him with corruption and “possessing
foreign funds, acquiring suspect and illegal wealth” and putting in place a
state of emergency, state media reported.
Last month, Sudan’s public prosecutor ordered the questioning of Bashir,
who is being held in Khartoum’s Kober prison, over money-laundering and
“financing terrorism”.
Talks between the protest leaders and generals collapsed in mid-May over
the question of who should lead a new governing body — a civilian or a
soldier.
Relations worsened following the crackdown, with protest leaders now
insisting any agreement reached with the military rulers must be backed by
“regional and international” guarantees.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0855 hrs