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Sudanese activists unite under ‘Revolutionary Council’

#Sudanese #activists #unite #Revolutionary #Council

Pro-democracy groups in Sudan on Thursday announced a “revolutionary council” to close ranks against coup leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, rejecting his offer of civilian rule as protesters continue to press for his resignation.

Burhan led a coup last October that thwarted a transition to civilian rule, sparking near-weekly protests and prompting key donors to freeze much-needed funds.

The interim government he uprooted was forged between the military and civilian factions in 2019 after mass protests and a sit-in outside army headquarters that prompted the military to oust longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir.

But in a surprise move on Monday, Burhan pledged to make way for a civilian government — an offer that was quickly dismissed as a “ruse” by the country’s main civilian umbrella organization.

On Thursday, pro-democracy groups, including local resistance committees, announced their plans to set up an anti-Burhan Revolutionary Council.

The Resistance Committees are informal groups that emerged during the protests that ousted Bashir and have recently spearheaded calls for anti-coup rallies.

This “revolutionary council will allow revolutionary forces to be regrouped under the orders of a unified leadership,” Manal Siam, a pro-democracy coordinator, told reporters.

The council will consist of “100 members, half of whom will be activists from resistance committees,” according to another coordinator, Mohammed al-Jili.

– skepticism –

The rest of the new organization will come from political parties, trade unions, rebel movements opposed to the military and relatives of those killed in the suppression of protests, Jili added.

According to pro-democracy medical experts, a total of 114 people have been killed in security forces crackdowns on demonstrators since the coup in October.

Activists are deeply skeptical of Burhan’s pledge to make way for civilian rule, not least because he also pledged to establish a new “Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.”

Opponents and pundits believe this new body will be used under the guise of “defense and security” imperatives to marginalize any new government and uphold the military’s broader economic interests.

Burhan also said he would dissolve the country’s ruling Sovereign Council – which was set up as the guiding body of the post-Bashir transition – and on Wednesday he sacked civilian staff who served on that body.

Protests against Burhan revived on June 30 when tens of thousands rallied and nine people were killed, according to pro-democracy medics.

Since then there have been daily protests.

Young protesters sat on stone barricades and felled poles in the capital Khartoum on Thursday while also entertaining sit-ins in the suburbs and in Gezira, an agrarian state south of the capital.

Doctors said a young protester was arrested Thursday at a hospital where he was being treated for wounds.

Sudan’s interim foreign minister Dafallah al-Haj Ali met with Volker Perthes, head of the UN mission in Sudan, to “remind him of his duty of neutrality,” according to a statement from Ali’s ministry.

“Violence must stop,” he tweeted last week.

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#Sudanese #activists #unite #Revolutionary #Council

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