Sudan’s Army Removes Al-Bashir: All The Latest Updates

Defence minister says army has overthrown and arrested al-Bashir and taken charge of the country for the next two years.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has been removed by the army after months of anti-government protests against his three decades of iron-fisted rule.

The veteran leader, who swept to power in a 1989 coup, was one of Africa’s longest-serving presidents and is wanted on charges of genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Since December, Sudan has been rocked by persistent protests sparked by rising food prices that quickly escalated into wider demands for the 75-year-old’s departure.

The latest crisis escalated on Saturday when thousands of demonstrators began a sit-in outside the army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum.

Dozens of people have been killed in protest-related violence since the start of the demonstrations.

Here are all the latest updates:
Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, says: “People are still in front of the army headquarters although an announcement has been made on state television by the interim military council, which is currently running the country, that the curfew has effectively been put in place and that people should leave the army headquarters and go back to their homes.”

“Only a credible and inclusive political process can meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people and lead to the political and economic reforms the country needs,” Mogherini says in a statement.

“That can only be achieved through a swift handover to a civilian transitional government,” she adds.

The US says it supports a peaceful and democratic Sudan and believes the Sudanese people should be allowed a peaceful transition sooner than two years from now.

“The Sudanese people should determine who leads them in their future,” says Robert Palladino, spokesman for the Department of State. “The Sudanese people have been clear that they have been demanding a civilian-led transition.

They should be allowed to do so sooner than two years from now.”

It was the man named by al-Bashir as his deputy just six weeks ago who broke the news to the Sudanese people of the longtime ruler’s removal.

Dressed in army fatigues, General Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf declared on Thursday that the 75-year-old had been overthrown and arrested following months of nationwide protests against his three-decade rule.

Sudan’s army warns it will enforce a night-time curfew, state media reports, as protesters vowed to continue demonstrating against a military council set up after al-Bashir’s removal.

The curfew runs “from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am, and all must adhere to it for their own safety,” the army says in a statement carried by the official SUNA news agency. It adds it is “doing its duty to keep them [Sudanese people] and their properties secure”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he hopes Sudan can overcome its upheaval peacefully through “national conciliation” and urges it to try to operate “a normal democratic process”.

“My greatest hope is that Sudan overcomes this process through national conciliation and peacefully,” he says in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Separately, Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s foreign secretary, says two years of potential military rule in Sudan “is not the answer” for “real change” in the country.

The African Union criticises the ouster of al-Bashir by Sudan’s armed forces and calls for calm and restraint.

“The military takeover is not the appropriate response to the challenges facing Sudan and the aspirations of its people,” says a statement from Moussa Faki, chairman of the AU Commission.

In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry also urges the international community to help Sudan achieve a peaceful transition.Organisers of the protests for al-Bashir’s removal are rejecting his toppling by the army as a “coup conducted by the regime” and are vowing to keep up their campaign.

“The regime has conducted a military coup by bringing back the same faces and the same institutions which our people rose against,” the Alliance for Freedom and Change says in a statement.

“We all reject what has been mentioned in the coup statement issued by the regime … We call on our people to continue their sit-in in front of army headquarters and across all regions and in the streets.”

The Sudanese defence minister and vice president says the military has overthrown and arrested al-Bashir and taken charge of the country for the next two years.

In an appearance on state TV, Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf says a state of emergency has been imposed for the next three months. He says the military has suspended the constitution and closed its borders as well as the country’s airspace.
Ibn Auf also imposes a night curfew.

Government sources and a provincial minister say al-Bashir has stepped down and consultations are under way to set up a transitional council to run the country.

Adel Mahjoub Hussein, minister of production and economic resources in North Darfur, tells Dubai-based al-Hadath TV that “there are consultations to form a military council to take over power after President Bashir stepped down”.

Sudanese sources tell Reuters news agency that al-Bashir is at the presidential residence under “heavy guard”.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese take to the streets in the centre of Khartoum in jubilation, dancing and chanting anti-Bashir slogans. Protesters outside the defence ministry chant: “It has fallen, we won.”

The Sudanese army plans to make “an important announcement”, state media says, after weeks of protests against longtime leader President Omar al-Bashir.

“The Sudanese army will issue an important statement soon. Wait for it,” an anchor says on state TV.
Organisers of the anti-Bashir protests are urging people to converge and join an ongoing sit-in that has been under way in Khartoum since the weekend.

Source: AL JAZEERA News