Sudan's army removes President Bashir after 30 years in power

Military
support for Omar al-Bashir appeared to be falling away in recent days as
soldiers protected demonstrators.
Sudan’s army has removed President Omar
al-Bashir from power after 30 years, following months of protests that
escalated at the weekend when demonstrators began a sit-in outside the defence
ministry compound in central Khartoum.
Bashir had
been arrested “in a safe place”, the Sudanese defence minster and army general
Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf said in a statement broadcast on state media. A military
council will take control of the country for two years, after which elections
would be held, Ibn Auf added.
“For a long time, examining what’s going on in
the state and the corruption that is going on,” he said. “The poor are poorer
and the rich are still rich and there are no equal chances for the same
people.”
The military
seized control of state television shortly after dawn on Thursday, amid
unconfirmed reports that Bashir was under house arrest at his residence in the
defence ministry compound. There were also reports that several senior figures
close to Bashir in the ruling National Congress party had been detained.
Ibn Auf said
political detainees would be released but that a state of emergency would
continue for three months and that a curfew from 10pm to 4am would be enforced
for at least a month. All ports will remain closed for 24 hours.
Sudan, one
of Africa’s biggest and most strategically important countries, has been
paralysed by months of protests that erupted on 19 December in the eastern city
of Atbara after a government decision to triple the price of bread, but quickly
evolved into nationwide demonstrations against Bashir’s rule.
Though the
removal from power of Bashir was welcomed with joy by protesters, the army’s
decision to impose a curfew is a direct challenge to the thousands who have
occupied a crossroads in the centre of Khartoum for five days. It is currently
unclear how demonstrators will react, raising fears of bloodshed if they refuse
to disperse.
Attempts by
security forces to break up the Khartoum sit-in have already killed at least 22
– including five soldiers, who organisers said were defending the protesters –
and injured more than 150.
The army has
won considerable goodwill among protesters by protecting them from security
services and pro-Bashir militia in recent days. Earlier this week, opposition
leaders called for the military to step in to form a transitional government.
Sudanese protesters flash the victory sign as
they march towards the military headquarters.
“Sudanese
always believe that transition should come through the military. All are
mindful of what instability could cause. Any chaos could have a very high
cost,” said Saif al Din Abdelrahman, a Sudanese economist and expert based in
Kenya.
Shortly
after dawn on Thursday Sudan state television had trailed “an important
announcement” without giving further details.
As
anticipation built, state television and radio played patriotic music,
reminding older Sudanese of how past military takeovers unfolded in the
country, and images of recent protests. Despite a lack of concrete information
about what was happening for much of the morning, tens of thousands of Sudanese
marched through the centre of Khartoum in jubilation, dancing and chanting
anti-Bashir slogans. Protesters outside the defence ministry chanted: “It has
fallen, we won.”
There were
sporadic protests elsewhere in the country, and some reports of shooting by
security services.
Footage
posted to social media showed people tearing down posters depicting the
president in Khartoum and marching on prisons and police stations.
Bashir is a
former paratrooper who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1989 and has managed
his way through one internal crisis after another while withstanding attempts
by the west to weaken him.
The
75-year-old faces genocide charges at the international criminal court relating
to extensive human rights abuses perpetrated by Sudanese forces against
civilians in Darfur, the western region gripped by conflict since 2003 when
rebels took up arms against the government, accusing it of discrimination and
neglect. The UN says 300,000 people have died in the conflict and 2.7 million
have fled their homes.
However,
many other leaders and governments in Africa have defended Bashir.
In October
2017, the US eased sanctions against Sudan, citing improved humanitarian
access, the mitigation of conflicts within the country and progress on
counter-terrorism. Human rights organisations condemned the move.
Ibn Auf is a
controversial figure himself, blacklisted by Washington for his role as the
army’s head of military intelligence and security during the Darfur conflict.
He has been defence minister since 2015 and was promoted in February by Bashir
to the role of first-vice president.