Three members of Sudan military council resign

Three members of Sudan’s ruling Transitional Military Council have resigned, but their resignations are yet to be accepted, the TMC said late on Wednesday (April 24), Reuters reported.

Lieutenant-General Omar Zain al-Abideen who heads the TMC’s political committee was one of the resigning members, the TMC said in a statement. The two others were Lieutenant-General Jalal al-Deen al-Sheikh and Lieutenant-General Al-Tayeb Babakr Ali Fadeel.

The resignations came after the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the main protest organiser, called for a million-strong march to take place on Thursday. One of the SPA’s demands was that the three lieutenant-generals, Abideen, Fadeel and Sheikh, be dismissed and tried over their alleged role in a crackdown that killed dozens of protesters.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, the opposition and the TMC agreed to form a committee to resolve their disagreements, amid tensions over how long it will take to move to civilian rule after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The opposition movement voiced a willingness to participate in the talks.

The TMC and the opposition had appeared on a collision course in recent days over popular demands for democratisation under civilian government. The SPA had declared on Sunday it would suspend talks with the military council.

On Tuesday, the SPA and witnesses said security forces tried to break up a protester sit-in outside Khartoum’s Defence Ministry. The group instead encouraged protesters to put up more barriers and continue their demonstration.