Three members of Sudan’s ruling military council resigned on Wednesday evening after it said it reached “agreement on most demands” with protest leaders who have called for a million-strong march to demand a civilian government.
The 10-member military council had invited the protest leaders for a meeting after the leaders suspended talks with the army rulers on Sunday.
“We have an agreement on most demands presented in the document of the Alliance for Freedom and Change,” Lt Gen Shamseddine Kabbashi, spokesman of the ruling military council, told reporters after the meeting between the council and leaders of the umbrella group leading the protest movement.
He did not elaborate on the key demand of handing power to a civilian government, but said there “were no big disputes”.
One of the protest leaders who attended the meeting, Ahmed Al Rabia, said the two sides had also agreed to form a joint committee, but did not elaborate for what.
Minutes later in a separate statement the military council announced that three members of the ruling body had resigned.
They were Lt Gen Omar Zain Al Abdin, Lt Gen Jalaluddin Al Sheikh and Lt Gen Al Tayieb Babikir.
Wednesday’s late-night developments came as Siddiq Farouk, one of the leaders of the protests, told reporters that the demonstrators were “preparing for a general strike” if the ruling military council refused to hand power to a civilian administration.
He also said that a “million-strong march” is planned, confirming a call for the mammoth protest on Thursday by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the group that initially launched protests against longtime leader Omar Al Bashir in December.
For the first time, Sudanese judges said they would join an ongoing sit-in outside army headquarters “to support change and for an independent judiciary”.
The demonstrations initially began in the central town of Atbara on December 19 against a decision by Mr Al Bashir’s government to triple bread prices.
They swiftly turned into nationwide rallies against his rule and that of the military council that took his place.
The council, led by Lt Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan since his predecessor quit after barely 24 hours in the post, says it has assumed power for a maximum two-year transitional period. However, he has said that the transition could be significantly shorter – even just a few months – if conditions allow.
Hundreds of protesters came from the central town of Madani to join the sit-in on Wednesday, the second major batch of new arrivals from outside the capital in as many days.
A train laden with demonstrators had rolled in from Atbara – the crucible of the protests – on Tuesday.
“Revolutionaries from Madani want civilian rule,” the latest arrivals chanted, according to witnesses.
The protesters suspended earlier talks with the council Sunday over its refusal to transfer power immediately.
But, the military council invited the protesters to fresh talks on Wednesday, acknowledging their role in “initiating the revolution and leading the movement in a peaceful way until the toppling of the regime” of Mr Al Bashir.