Sudan army ousts Bashir, protestors vow further demos

2 min 52Approximate reading time

Sudan's army ousted veteran president Omar al-Bashir Thursday, but protestors against his iron-fisted rule swiftly rejected a "coup" and vowed to keep rallying despite an approaching night-time curfew.

In a sombre televised address, Defence Minister Awad Ibnouf announced "the toppling of the regime" and said Bashir had been detained in "a secure place", bringing an end to his three decades in power.

A transitional military council will replace the president for two years, he said, adding that the country's borders and airspace were shut until further notice.

He also imposed a curfew set to kick in at 10:00pm (2000 GMT) which the army later warned the public not to defy, even as thousands of protestors kept up their rally outside army headquarters Thursday evening.

Bashir, who swept to power in a 1989 coup, was one of Africa's longest-serving presidents and is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide and war crimes.

Organisers of protests that have rocked Sudan since December vowed to press on until the whole regime was swept aside.

The protestors' Alliance for Freedom and Change said the regime had carried out "a military coup" and kept "the same faces" protestors wanted to oust.

It urged demonstrators "to continue their sit-in in front of army headquarters and across all regions and in the streets."

Thursday's announcement means "we have not achieved anything", said Adel, a protestor outside the army headquarters, where defiant protesters have braved tear gas and gunfire to keep up a six-day sit-in.

"We will not stop our revolution. We are calling for the regime to step down, not only Bashir," he said.

Activists outside the compound were seen urging others to spend the night there despite the curfew.

- 'We're not leaving' -

Huge crowds of jubilant Sudanese had filled squares across the centre of the capital Thursday as the army promised an "important announcement".

Chanting "the regime has fallen," they poured into the open ground outside the army base.

But the festive mood later soured.

"We are not leaving, we are not leaving. Just fall and that's all," they shouted after Ibnouf's announcement.

The opposition Sudanese Congress Party called for the establishment of a joint military and civilian council to rule for a four-year transitional period.

It also urged the army to give executive powers to civilians.

Washington echoed that call, urging Khartoum to "exercise restraint and to allow space for civilian participation within the government".

"The Sudanese people should determine who leads them and their future and the Sudanese people have been clear and are demanding a civilian-led transition," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters.

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a transition that would meet the "democratic aspirations" of the Sudanese people and appealed for "calm and utmost restraint by all", his spokesman said.

That came after the African Union decried Bashir's military ouster, saying it was "not the appropriate response to the challenges facing Sudan and the aspirations of its people".

Army vehicles carrying troops were seen deploying across the centre of Khartoum from early Thursday.

Troops raided the offices of the Islamic Movement, the ideological wing of Bashir's ruling National Congress Party, witnesses told AFP.

Martial music was played on state television as soldiers ordered the TV to halt its normal programming ahead of Ibnouf's announcement.

Outside army headquarters, dozens of joyful protesters early Thursday climbed on top of land-cruisers and armoured vehicles that had been posted to protect them from intervention by other branches of the security forces.

- Prisoner release -

The military council also said it was declaring a ceasefire across the country, including in war-torn Darfur.

But the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA-AW) fighting government forces in Darfur denounced what it called a "palace coup".

Meanwhile, Sudan's feared National Intelligence and Security Service said it was freeing all the country's political prisoners, state media reported.

But in the eastern cities of Kasala and Port Sudan, the releases failed to materialise, prompting protesters to storm NISS buildings, according to witnesses.

Demonstrators Thursday entered their sixth night defiantly camped outside the sprawling army headquarters complex in Khartoum, which also houses Bashir's official residence and the defence ministry.

Officials say 49 people have died in protest-related violence since the demonstrations first erupted in December.

Rights group Amnesty International said Bashir should now be handed over to the ICC so that "victims of these unspeakable crimes can see that justice is done".

Neighbouring Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in similar circumstances, said Thursday it supported the Sudanese people and the army in their political transition.