Sudan’s military has removed Omar Al-Bashir from power after 30 years and declared a state of emergency.
The move brings to an end the divisive and autocratic reign of one of Africa and the Arab world’s longest serving leaders.
It follows months of escalating protests against his rule that have been met with a brutal response by the security forces. Dozens of people have been killed.
But while many celebrated the coup, protests leaders expressed their anger at the military intervention and called for the demonstrations to continue.
In a televised address, Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, the first vice president and defense minister of Sudan, announced the suspension of the Sudanese constitution and creation of a transitional military council, which will lead the country for two years. Elections would be held after the transition period, Auf added.
“We, the transitional government, bear the responsibility to protect our citizens,” he said “We hope our population will bear the same responsibility.”
Auf, who was sworn in as the head of the council late on Thursday, blamed the 75-year-old leader for his own downfall.
“The regime continued to make false promises in response to the demands of the people,” Auf said.
Wearing military uniform and talking calmly to the camera for almost 10 minutes, Auf offered to reassure the Sudanese people, saying the judicial system will remain the same. He called on all armed groups to join the government and protect the people.
A massive crowd of jubilant Sudanese people thronged squares and streets of central Khartoum ahead of the announcement.
But the protestors’ Alliance for Freedom and Change said the regime had “conducted a military coup by bringing back the same faces and the same institutions which our people rose against.”
It urged people “to continue their sit-in in front of army headquarters and across all regions and in the streets.”
Alaa Salah, who became an icon of the protest movement after a video of her leading demonstrators’ chants outside army headquarters went viral, said: “The people do not want a transitional military council.”
“Change will not happen with Bashir’s entire regime hoodwinking Sudanese civilians through a military coup,” she tweeted. “We want a civilian council to head the transition.”
The son of the head of Sudan’s main opposition party said Al-Bashir was under house arrest along with a “number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders,” Al-Hadath TV reported.
Al-Bashir was at the presidential residence under “heavy guard,” Reuters reported, while it was announced the transitional council would be headed by Auf.
Sudan’s army warned it would enforce a night-time curfew, state media reported, as protesters vowed to continue demonstrating against a military council set up after president Omar Al-Bashir was toppled.
The curfew runs “from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am, and all must adhere to it for their own safety,” the army said in a statement carried by the official SUNA news agency, adding that it was “doing its duty to keep them and their properties secure.”
This story first appeared on Arab News, read more: Here.
