Africa 

Residents of Atbara, birthplace of Sudan protests, join Khartoum sit-ins

When economic protests broke out in December 2018 in Sudan, it was residents of Atbara in the River Nile state who started it. Months on, it became a nationwide movement that toppled long-serving Omar al-Bashir.

Atbara residents on Tuesday left the city aboard a train with the view of joining the ongoing sit-ins in the heart of the capital, Khartoum, reports on social media noted. They have since arrived in Khartoum.

The popular sit-ins in front of the army headquarters and in an area close to the presidency was the final nail in Bashir’s coffin. Protesters have blocked roads leading to the army headquarters.

Bashir’s ouster of April 11 has plunged the country into a political crisis with the military and protest leaders, Sudanese Professionals Association, SPA, failing to agree on a transition plan.

The two parties had been in talks till last weekend when SPA called off all such engagements accusing the military of wanting to hold on to power and keep Bashir allies in power via the back door.

There has been increasing diplomatic pressure on the Transitional Military Council, TMC; to hand over power to a civilian-led transition team.

The TMC is currently headed by AbdelFattah Al-Burhan who has promised that the military will not use force to remove protesters who have for weeks mounted barricades around the military headquarters.

Bashir is currently being held in solitary confinement in a maximum security jail. Two of his brothers have been arrested along with senior allies of the former ruling party.

The military reported having found huge sums of monies in Bashir’s house and said a probe was underway over the said funds.

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