Sudan’s ruling military council has rejected Ethiopia’s proposal regarding the composition of the country’s transitional government, reported Aljazeera.
The Ethiopian envoy, which made a visit to Sudan earlier this month, proposed the creation of a civilian-majority governing body for the political transition. The proposal called for the creation of a 15-member governing body that would install a civilian administration, comprising of eight civilians and seven members of the military.
While the protestor and opposition leaders have accepted the Ethiopian call to resume talks with Khartoum’s ruling generals, the military council does not seem to be satisfied with the proposal.
On Sunday, the TMC spokesman, Lieutenant General Shams al-Din Kabbashi, instead said that he agreed in principle to the African Union (AU) plan.
“The African Union’s initiative came first,” said Kabbashi.
He added that the council had not studied the Ethiopian initiative, which he described as unilateral. Details about the AU proposal currently remain unknown.
The military council made an appeal to the African Union and Ethiopia to unify their efforts in outlining a blueprint for a political transition in the crisis-hit country.
“We asked the mediators to unite their efforts and submit a joint paper as soon as possible to return the parties to negotiations,” Kabashi said.
He said that the joint proposal should be received by Monday.
Ethiopia and the African Union have stepped up diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Sudan which has worsened by tensions between the protest leaders and generals. Talks between the protest leaders and the generals over the composition and leadership of a sovereign council collapsed after the June 3 bloody dispersal of a long-running protest camp outside the army headquarters in Khartoum.
The doctors linked to the protest movement claimed around 128 people have been killed in the crackdown, while the health ministry put the June 3 death toll at 61 nationwide.
