Sudan’s ruling military council on Wednesday said it is ready to resume talks with the protest and opposition alliance over the formation of a new sovereign council after talks collapsed following the deadly dispersal of a protest sit-in.
“We are ready to continue negotiations with the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces,” said Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, reported Reuters. “We do not deny its role in the uprising or in the popular revolution, their leadership of the masses.”
Talks between the army and the opposition alliance stalled after the security forces stormed a protest sit-in camp outside the Defence Ministry on June 3, killing more than 100 protestors. The two sides had been on a standoff for weeks over who would control a sovereign council to lead Sudan to elections. The protestors are demanding a civilian head, while the army wants a military head.
Burhan said the opposition should resume talks without preconditions.
“The solution must be satisfactory for all the Sudanese people,” he said. “We pledge to you and pledge to the people that we will not accept any solution that excludes any faction of the Sudanese people.”
Burhan also said that the council did not break its promise as it did not order the dispersal.
“We all know that we pledged to all the Sudanese people that we would not disperse that place and that is a promise we made and we did not lie to anyone,” he said.
The military council had said the dispersal of the protest camp came about when a campaign against criminals using an area next to the sit-in strayed from its course.
The opposition had called for an international inquiry into the sit-in dispersal before rejoining any talks with the military council. Although there have been no direct talks between the protest leaders and the army since the dispersal, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the African Union have been trying to mediate between the sides.
