KHARTOUM (AFP) – Sudan’s new military leader resigned on Friday just a day after being sworn in, as the country’s army rulers insisted they would pave the way for a civilian government.
The head of Sudan’s new ruling military council, General Awad Ibn Ouf, announced his departure after being sworn in late Thursday following the ouster of long-time president Omar al-Bashir.
His move came shortly after the council’s political chief Lieutenant General Omar Zain al-Abdin told Arab and African diplomats at a meeting broadcast on state television: “This is not a military coup, but taking the side of the people.’’
Ouf’s departure was an apparent sign of confusion among the northeast African country’s new leaders after Thursday’s ousting of iron-fisted Bashir.
But there was jubilation at the news on the streets of Khartoum.
Tens of thousands of protestors had kept up a vigil at the army headquarters in the Sudanese capital Friday angrily demanding that the military make way for a civilian government.
“I hereby announce my resignation as head of the Transitional Military Council,’’ Ibn Ouf said in an address to the nation, announcing he had chosen General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdulrahman to replace him.
He said he trusted in Abdulrahman’s “experience and suitability I trust to bring this ship to a safe shore’’.
The Sudanese Professionals Association which has spearheaded the nationwide protest campaign hailed Ibn Ouf’s departure as “a victory of the people’s will’’.
The umbrella group organising the protests called on newly sworn-in ruler Burhan to “transfer the powers of the military council to a transitional civilian government.’’
“If this does not happen we will continue with our sit-in in front of the army headquarters and other towns,’’ it said in a statement.
Sudan’s military head resigns after one day
