Head of Sudan's military council steps down

KHARTOUM: Sudan's defence minister stepped down abruptly on Friday as head of the country's transitional ruling military council after only a day in the post, as protesters demanded quicker political change following President Omar al-Bashir's ouster by the armed forces.

Hours after the military council sought to calm public anger by promising a new civilian government, Defence Minister Awad Ibn Auf said in a televised speech he was quitting as head of the council.

Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman will be the new head of the council, Ibn Auf said. He also said Chief of Staff Kamal Abdelmarouf al-Mahi was relieved of his position as deputy head of the transitional military council.

"In order to ensure the cohesion of the security system, and the armed forces in particular, from cracks and strife, and relying on God, let us begin this path of change," Ibn Auf said.

News of the change sparked joyful celebrations by many thousands in the streets of Khartoum.

"What happened is a step in the right direction and is a bow to the will of the masses, and we have become closer to victory," Rashid Saeed, a spokesman for the main protest group, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), told Reuters.

"We are committed to our demands that we submitted to the army," he said. "We call on the masses to stay on the streets until all the demands are met."

The military council said earlier that it expected a pre-election transition to last two years at most or much less if chaos can be avoided. The head of the military council's political committee, Omar Zain al-Abideen, said the council would hold a dialogue with political entities.

The announcement of a future civilian government appeared aimed at reassuring demonstrators who had pressed for months for Bashir's departure and quickly resumed protests against army rule after his ouster on Thursday, calling for quicker and more substantial change.

In a clear challenge to Ibn Auf's military council, several thousand protesters remained in front of the defence ministry compound, and in other parts of the capital, as a nighttime curfew Ibn Auf had announced went into effect.

The SPA said the military council was "not capable of creating change." In a statement, the group restated its demand for power to be handed immediately to "a transitional civilian government."

Worshippers packed the streets around the Defence Ministry for Friday prayers, heeding a call by the SPA to challenge the military council. The numbers swelled in the afternoon, and a Reuters witness estimated hundreds of thousands of protesters thronged areas around the ministry, which was guarded by soldiers.

At least 16 people were killed and 20 injured by stray bullets at protests and sit-ins on Thursday and Friday, a Sudanese police spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

Government buildings and private property were also attacked, spokesman Hashem Ali added.

He asked citizens to help ensure safety and public order.