Khartoum - Sudan's military council and
opposition groups said they had agreed on Monday to a power
structure for the country's transition but have yet to decide
how long it will last or the make-up of transitional bodies.
The apparent progress was offset by rising tension in the
capital Khartoum, where paramilitary forces patrolled the
streets into the evening, using tear gas and gunfire to disrupt
protests blocking roads.
Protesters said counter-revolutionaries were inciting
violence in an attempt to sabotage a political deal. An
opposition doctors' group said three protesters had been wounded
by gunfire, and several others by sticks or whips.
The military-civilian balance of power and the length of the
transition have been key sticking points in talks between the
council and an alliance of protest and opposition groups since
former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted on April 11.
Those points will be addressed on Tuesday, according to
Transitional Military Council (TMC) spokesman Lieutenant General
Shams El Din Kabbashi and Taha Osman Ishaq, a spokesman for the
Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces opposition alliance.
Protesters are pushing for a civilian-led transition and
have kept up demonstrations against the council since military
officers removed Bashir, who is now facing multiple criminal
investigations.
For a second day on Monday demonstrators blocked Nile
Street, a major avenue running south of the Blue Nile, placing
burning branches and stones across the road, as well as several
other streets north and south of the river.
In the morning, police and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
(RSF) dismantled barricades and dispersed about 100 protesters
who had blocked a road leading from Khartoum North to al-Mek
Nimir Bridge and the centre of the capital.
Later, RSF men fired gunshots to disperse protesters near
Blue Nile bridge and thick clouds of tear gas were fired near
Jumhuriya Street south of the river, where the RSF were seen
beating a rickshaw driver as they patrolled in vehicles armed
with sticks and guns, witnesses said.
SIT-IN
Protesters demanding a swift handover of power to civilians
have been camped at a sit-in outside the Defence Ministry
compound in central Khartoum since April 6, as the military has
negotiated with the opposition alliance over the transition.
Talks resumed on Monday, and both sides said they had
produced agreement on the duties and authorities of sovereign,
executive and legislative bodies.
"We discussed the structure of the transitional authority
and agreed on it completely, and we also agreed on the system of
governance in the transitional period," said Kabbashi.
"We will continue tomorrow with talks on the ratio of
participation on the sovereign level ... and the length of the
transitional period," he said. "God willing, we will agree on
these two points."
The Sudanese Professionals' Association, which leads the
opposition alliance, has accused the TMC of expanding its powers
as talks over the transition have stalled, threatening a
campaign of civil disobedience to up pressure on the military.
"The situation now on public roads, bridges and in
neighbourhoods expresses the state of popular discontent with
the procrastination and the consumption of time by the military
council," the SPA said on Monday.
The TMC has said it is not seeking power and is open to
further dialogue. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF
and deputy head of the TMC, told a military meeting on Monday
that the armed forces and RSF were working to protect "security
and stability" in Sudan.
Also on Monday, Sudan's public prosecution said it had
charged Bashir and others with incitement and involvement in the
killing of protesters.
Earlier this month, the public prosecutor ordered Bashir to
be interrogated on charges of money laundering and financing
terrorism. There has been no comment from Bashir, who is in
prison in Khartoum.