Sudan security forces try to break up Khartoum sit-in

KHARTOUM

Sudanese security forces on Monday tried to disperse a weeks-long sit-in outside army headquarters in Khartoum, according to the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which is leading ongoing popular demonstrations in demand of civilian rule.

In a statement, the SPA said security forces were attempting to remove barricades that had been erected around the sit-in, but were meeting resistance from protesters.

“Security forces are trying to tear down the barricades in the Burri district… but protesters have so far prevented them from doing so,” the statement read.

The SPA went on to urge supporters to converge on the area to preempt any attempts by security forces to break up the sit-in.

According to witnesses, there were fewer protesters than normal at the sit-in on Monday, which coincided with the first day of the Ramadan fasting month.

On Saturday, one protester was killed in the southwestern city of Nyala when security forces broke up a similar sit-in.

Organizers of the Khartoum sit-in, which began early last month, demand that Sudan’s ruling Military Transitional Council (MTC) hand over power to a civilian authority.

On April 11, the Sudanese army announced the “removal” of President Omar al-Bashir following months of popular protest against his 30-year rule.

The MTC is now overseeing a two-year “transitional period” during which it has pledged to hold free presidential elections.

Demonstrators, however, have remained on the streets to demand that the military council hand over power -- at the earliest possible date -- to a civilian authority.