The Sudanese military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Thursday named a new transitional council that will lead the country following the military takeover late last month, reported France 24.
On October 25, Burhan dissolved the government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, detained the civilian leadership, and declared a nationwide state of emergency, sparking a wave of international condemnation. The United Nations, Western countries, and the Gulf States have all called for the restoration of a civilian-led government.
More than 100 government officials and political leaders have been detained following the coup, along with a large number of protesters and activists. The Sudanese Prime Minister Hamdok was briefly detained immediately after the coup but later placed under effective house arrest.
On Thursday, the coup leader re-appointed himself as head of the army-run interim governing body. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces who is also known as Hemeti, would keep his post as deputy.
The Sudanese transitional council also retains some senior military figures including Shamsaldine al-Kabashi, Yasser Atta, and Ibrahim Gaber. Civilian figures include former parliamentarian Abou al-Qassem Bortoum, a supporter of Sudan’s normalization with Israel.
The new Sovereign Council includes civilians representing Sudan’s regions but no one has been named from the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) political coalition that had been sharing power with the military since 2019. The FFC bloc, which spearheaded the anti-Bashir protests, has rejected the recent coup and is demanding a transfer to civilian rule.
The announcement comes just two days ahead of planned mass protests against the coup.
According to Sudanese doctors and the United Nations, at least 14 anti-coup protesters have been killed due to excessive force used by the country’s security forces post the coup.
Mediation efforts by various international organizations are ongoing to resolve the crisis.
