Sudan President Omar al-Bashir steps down

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has stepped down after months of protests against his rule.

Consultations are under way to form a transitional council to run the country, government sources and a provincial minister said on Thursday.

The minister of production and economic resources in North Darfur, Adel Mahjoub Hussein, told the Dubai-based al-Hadath TV that “there are consultations to form a military council to take over power after President Bashir stepped down”.

Earlier in the day, Sudanese army said it will make an “important statement soon,” state television and radio announced, as thousands of protesters camped outside the military headquarters in Khartoum demanding the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir.

“The Sudanese army will issue an important statement soon. Wait for it,” a television anchor said.

State media offered no further details, as the rally outside the army complex entered its sixth day.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets in the center of Khartoum in jubilation, dancing and chanting anti-Bashir slogans.

Protesters outside the defense ministry chanted: “It has fallen, we won.”

State television and radio played patriotic music, reminding older Sudanese of how military takeovers unfolded during previous episodes of civil unrest.

Bashir, a former paratrooper who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1989, has been a divisive figure who has managed his way through one internal crisis after another while withstanding attempts by the West to weaken him.

Sudan has suffered prolonged periods of isolation since 1993 when the United States added Bashir’s government to its list of terrorism sponsors for harbouring Islamist militants. Washington followed up with sanctions four years later.

Bashir has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague over allegations of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region during an insurgency that began in 2003.

The latest protests in Sudan started in 2018 over the rising costs of bread and fuel and quickly spiralled into calls for the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.

The prices of bread tripled from Sh2 to Sh6. But many said the agitation had been boiling as the economic hardship hit with soaring inflation and limits on bank withdrawals.

Clashes erupted on Tuesday between soldiers trying to protect the protesters and intelligence and security personnel trying to disperse them. At least 11 people died in the clashes, including six members of the armed forces, the information minister said, citing a police report.

Opposition figures have called for the military to help negotiate an end to Bashir’s nearly three decades in power and a transition to democracy.

The demonstrators at the Defence Ministry had said that they wanted to submit a petition for the armed forces to take their side in their attempt to remove Bashir and his Islamist-backed administration.