Sudan converge on army HQ for 'million-strong' protest as judges join opposition protests

Sudanese marchers converged from all directions on army headquarters for a "million-strong" demonstration Thursday to turn up the heat on the ruling military council after three of its members resigned following talks on handing over power.

The rally comes after Sudan's new military rulers and protest leaders agreed to set up a joint committee, to chart the way forward two weeks after the ouster of veteran president Omar al-Bashir.

"We call on our people, who have been demanding a transitional civilian rule, to participate in the million-strong march," said the Alliance for Freedom and Change, the umbrella group leading the protests.

"Our sit-in will continue to protect our revolution and to ensure that all our demands are achieved," the alliance said in a statement.

Witnesses said marchers were closing in on the main protest site from different directions.

They included dozens of judges, dressed in their robes, rallying from the constitutional court, an AFP photographer said.

About 100 Sudanese judges demanding civilian rule marched on Thursday from the Supreme Court in Khartoum towards an opposition sit-in outside the Defense Ministry, joining anti-government protests for the first time, a Reuters witness said.

“We are here to give a message that the judiciary should be independent without any political intervention,” a judge told journalists.

Wearing their black robes, some of the judges carried signs reading “judges for change” as they marched through central Khartoum, the witness said.

“Civilian, civilian, protected by the judiciary”, they chanted.

Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the opposition have been at loggerheads over how long it will take to move to civilian rule after the military removed Omar al-Bashir as president on April 11.

An AFP photographer said in downtown Khartoum crowds of protesters gathered earlier outside Egypt's embassy and consulate, which were surrounded by riot police.

Several people held banners calling on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi not to "interfere in our affairs", after Cairo hosted a summit of African leaders calling for more time for a transition to civilian rule in Sudan.

Across the city, demonstrators arrived at the army headquarters from the states of Jazeera, White Nile and also from Bashir's hometown Shendi, increasing the numbers already camped at the site, many of them for the past several weeks.

Shortly after the march began, the TMC announced it would retain “sovereign authority only”, while civilians would hold the post of prime minister and head all government ministries.

“The Transitional Military Council has the sovereign authority only, while the head of the cabinet, the civilian government and all the executive authority will be completely civilian,” TMC spokesman Shams El Din Kabbashi told al Arabiya television.

Reuters/AFP