Cairo - African leaders meeting in Cairo
on Tuesday agreed to give Sudan's ruling military council three
months to implement democratic reforms, Egypt said on Tuesday,
amid pressure for a quick handover of power to civilians.
The decision extends a 15-day deadline set by the African
Union last week for Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC)
to hand over power to civilians or to be suspended from the
grouping. The TMC took over after President Omar al-Bashir was
ousted on April 11.
Any suspension of Sudan's AU membership could affect the
TMC's efforts to win international recognition as the country's
legitimate rulers during an interim period of up to two years,
and thus delay any aid to the country that has been trying to
cope with a dire economic crisis.
The TMC has been under pressure from demonstrators to hand
power rapidly to civilians since the military ousted Bashir
following months of protests against his 30 years in office.
Speaking at the end of a summit attended by several African
heads of state, Sisi said that the meeting agreed on the need to
deal with the situation in Sudan by working to "quickly restore
the constitutional system through a political democratic process
led and managed by the Sudanese themselves".
Sisi, who holds the rotating African Union presidency, said
that the African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat
had briefed the meeting on his recent talks in Khartoum.
"We agreed on the need to give more time to Sudanese
authorities and Sudanese parties to implement these measures,"
Sisi told the meeting.
TECHNOCRATS
Presidency Spokesman Bassam Rady said that the period was
extended to three months, according to state news agency MENA.
Mahamat visited Sudan for talks with the TMC ahead of his
trip to Cairo for the meeting. Last week, he met TMC member
Jalal al-Deen al-Sheikh in Addis Ababa, who had delivered a
letter from TMC head Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan addressing the
situation in Sudan, Sudan's state news agency SUNA said.
A Sudanese and a Western diplomat head had earlier said that
the TMC wanted a period of three to six months to continue its
discussions with protesters and opposition groups to hammer out
an agreement on how to run the transitional period.
The TMC has resisted pressure to hand power to civilians,
but has said it was ready to accept a civilian government of
technocrats to run the country during an interim period of up to
two years that would prepare for a presidential election.
But protesters say the proposal would leave ultimate power
in the hands of the military, demanding that the ruling council
be staffed by civilians with military representation.
Egypt says security and stability in its two neighbours is
crucial for its own stability.
Egyptian media said Sudanese security chief Abu Bakr Mustafa
met Sisi earlier on Tuesday and handed him a letter from Burhan.