\n Protestors thronged the Sudanese capital Khartoum Thursday to mark one week since the army ousted president Omar al-Bashir, determined to complete their revolution seeking civilian rule.\n<\/p>\n
\n On April 11, the army brought Bashir's three-decade rule to an end as tens of thousands of protesters camped outside the military headquarters in central Khartoum to demand its backing.\n<\/p>\n
\n But protesters have vowed to keep up the pressure, calling for a civilian government to replace the military council that took Bashir's place.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are sending a message that we are not leaving this area until we achieve our goal,\" said protestor Ahmed, who had been at the rally since early Thursday morning.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The idea is to keep the fire burning.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Bashir, who took power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, headed a brutal regime that saw conflicts across the country, the secession of South Sudan and regular arrests of opposition leaders, activists and journalists.\n<\/p>\n
\n Protests broke out on December 19 in response to the tripling of bread prices, swiftly turning into nationwide rallies against Bashir.\n<\/p>\n
\n Cities, towns and villages echoed with chants of \"freedom, peace, justice,\" and \"just fall, that's all\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The 75-year-old faces charges from the International Criminal Court of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the conflict in Darfur.\n<\/p>\n
\n But despite detaining him, the military has resisted sending him to The Hague, saying his handover is a matter for a future civilian government it has pledged to deliver.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Tuesday night, he was moved to the capital's Kober prison, a family source told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Dangerous waters' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Seven days on from his ouster, the huge square outside army headquarters reverberated with demonstrators singing, dancing and demanding the dissolution of the military council.\n<\/p>\n
\n Thousands thronged the area, including teachers who carried pictures of their colleague Ahmed al-Kheir, who died in custody in January after being arrested in connection with protests.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was one of more than 60 people killed before Bashir finally left office.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We want the killers of our teacher friend to face justice,\" they chanted.\n<\/p>\n
\n Hundreds more people marched in from the northern suburb of Bahari, carrying banners reading: \"Bring Bashir to justice\".\n<\/p>\n
\n They were expected to be joined by women's groups, trade unionists, engineers and students.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Bashir's regime was a terrorist regime, a dictatorship. We are happy we that overthrew him,\" said protestor Mohamed Ali.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"All these decades, we have had wars inside the country. Our relations with the world also suffered under Bashir. All that has to change, that's what this revolution is for.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Bashir's defence minister General Awad Ibn Ouf initially took power as council chairman, but stepped down within 24 hours following intense pressure from protesters.\n<\/p>\n
\n The council is now headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a career soldier largely unknown outside of the army.\n<\/p>\n
\n Protest leaders say they asked for a joint military-civilian council, but what they got was a military council with many regime faces.\n<\/p>\n
\n They have now hardened their demands.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We want the military council to be dissolved and replaced by a civilian council having representatives of the army,\" said Mohamed Naji, a senior leader of the Sudanese Professionals Association which spearheaded the movement.\n<\/p>\n
\n This civilian council should then make way for a four-year transitional government, protest organisers say.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It is increasingly clear that the revolution is still unfinished,\" said International Crisis Group analyst Alan Boswell.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The security cabal which still has power in Sudan is clearly resisting demands that would force it to cede its own power.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The protesters did win the resignation of Saleh Ghosh, head of the feared National Intelligence and Security Service.\n<\/p>\n
\n He oversaw the crackdown on protesters that left dozens dead, hundreds wounded and thousands jailed.\n<\/p>\n
\n But as pressure grows from world powers and the Sudanese street, all eyes are the military council's next move.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I don't think we are anywhere close to the end of the road yet,\" Boswell said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are hitting pretty dangerous waters\".\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Remove regime' -\n<\/p>\n
\n The military council has offered concessions, including sacking the prosecutor general.\n<\/p>\n
\n But both Western and African governments have pushed for greater change.\n<\/p>\n
\n The United States, United Kingdom and Norway urged the military council to hold an \"inclusive dialogue\" to usher in civilian rule.\n<\/p>\n
\n The 55-member African Union on Monday threatened to suspend Sudan if the military fails to cede power to civilians within 15 days.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"A military-led transition would be completely contrary to the aspirations of the people of Sudan,\" the bloc said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Protestor Erij Salah, 23, said Bashir's departure was important but further change was needed.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We have to fight until we get rid of this regime.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n But engineer Tariq Ahmed, 28, said he was already \"proud of what my generation has done to the dictator\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This is the first week in my life that I have lived without Bashir,\" he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Protestors thronged the Sudanese capital Khartoum Thursday to mark one week since the army ousted president Omar al-Bashir, determined to complete their revolution seeking civilian rule. On April 11, the army brought Bashir's three-decade rule to an end as tens of thousands of protesters camped outside the military headquarters in central Khartoum to demand its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-41164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n