Sudan Talks Enter Day Two As Key Issue Still Unresolved

Talks between Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders, held after weeks of standoff following a deadly crackdown on protesters, enter a second day Thursday with the key issue of forming a new governing body still unresolved.

Sudan has been rocked by a political crisis since the army ousted longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April on the back of widespread protests, with the ruling generals resisting demonstrators’ demands to hand power to a civilian administration.

The generals had previously agreed over a broad civilian structure, but talks between the two sides collapsed in May following a disagreement over who should lead an overall new governing body — a civilian or a soldier.

Tensions further surged between the generals and protest leaders after a deadly pre-dawn raid on a longstanding protest camp in Khartoum on June 3 killed dozens of demonstrators and wounded hundreds.

Talks finally resumed Wednesday after intense mediation by Ethiopian and African Union envoys, who have proposed a draft proposal to break the deadlock.

“Today, the discussion will be about who heads the sovereign council,” a prominent protest leader who is part of the talks, Ahmed al-Rabie, told AFP, referring to the governing body.

He said the ruling military council that took power after Bashir’s ouster insists the head of the new governing body be from the army.

“We believe that symbolically the head of the state must be a civilian,” Rabie said.

For weeks this issue has rocked Sudan, extending the political crisis triggered since the fall of Bashir.