Sudan's Military Council Warns Protesters


                                                                       VOA 

Thousands of protesters wave Sudanese flags, hold banners and chant slogans during a demonstration in front of the Defense Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan, April 18, 2019.


Sudan's Transitional Military Council wants protesters to remove themselves and the blockades they have placed around the military headquarters in Khartoum.

In a statement Monday, the council called for an "immediate opening of the roads and removal of the barricades" around the site.


The council's warning comes a day after talks between the protesters and the military broke down because the military refuses to transfer power to a civilian government.

Protesters have been demanding a change in regime since December.

"We have decided to opt for escalation with the military council, not to recognize its legitimacy and to continue the sit-in and escalate the protests on the streets," said Mohamed al-Amin Abdel-Aziz of the Sudanese Professionals Association, one of the main organizers of the protests.
The military removed President Omar al-Bashir from power on April 11, after three decades in power. But since then, the military has made no move toward transferring power to a civilian council as demanded by the protesters.


Sudan's army ruler, General Abdel Fattah al-Burham told state television Sunday that a joint military-civilian council, which he said was one of the demonstrators demands, was under consideration, "The issue has been put forward for discussion and a vision has yet to be reached," he said.

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