Sudan to dissolve sovereign council after new gov’t

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - Sudan’s army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said Monday the ruling sovereign council will be dissolved after the formation of a new government.

Al-Burhan said in a televised speech that the army will withdraw from the ongoing political talks and allow political and revolutionary groups to sit together to agree on the formation of a civilian government.

“The sovereign council will be dissolved once political parties agree on forming a civilian government,” he said, adding that a higher council of the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will be established after the dissolution of the sovereign council.

Talks aimed at resolving a months-long political crisis in Sudan started last month amid a boycott of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition, which spearheaded protests that led to the ouster of long-serving President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

FFC wants the military to leave power and the formation of a fully civilian government in the country.

Sudan has been in turmoil since last October when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government, a move decried by political forces as a "military coup."

More than 100 people have been killed in protests against the military since October, according to Sudanese medics.