April 11, 2019 - 12:09 AMT
Sudan's army orchestrating the ousting of President after 30-year rule

The Sudanese army has said it will make an “important statement” on Thursday, April 11, amid mounting evidence that it was orchestrating the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir after 30 years in power, The Guardian reports.

“The Sudanese army will issue an important statement soon. Wait for it,” a state television anchor said, as a sit-in by protesters outside the defence ministry compound in central Khartoum entered its sixth day.

State media offered no further details, but government sources told Reuters that Bashir had stepped down.

Adel Mahjoub Hussein, the minister of production and economic resources, told the Dubai-based al-Hadath TV that consultations were under way to set up a transitional council to run the country.

Despite a lack of concrete information about what was happening, tens of thousands of Sudanese marched through the centre of Khartoum in jubilation, dancing and chanting anti-Bashir slogans. “People are coming in droves,” said one onlooker. Protesters outside the defence ministry chanted: “It has fallen, we won.”

As people waited for further word, military vehicles were deployed on key roads in the capital and state television and radio played patriotic music, reminding older Sudanese of how military takeovers unfolded during previous episodes of civil unrest. Protest organisers issued a statement vowing to remain in the streets until “the regime steps down completely and power is handed to a civilian transitional government”.

The news of an announcement from the army came as analysts warned that Sudan could descend into anarchy if its political crisis is not resolved peacefully and rival factions within the security establishment fight for power.

The country, one of Africa’s biggest and most strategically important, has been paralysed by months of protests against Bashir’s 30-year rule. There were reports that was under house arrest with a number of aides at the presidential palace.

Since Saturday, thousands of people have camped a crossroads in the centre of Khartoum, calling for Bashir to step down. Attempts by security forces to break up the demonstration have killed at least 22 – including five soldiers, who organisers said were defending the protesters – and injured more than 150.