Sudan's Bashir moved to prison as protesters rally
Sudan's military rulers have transferred ousted president
Omar al-Bashir to prison, a family source said Wednesday, as an array of
protest groups marched through Khartoum to join a sit-in at the army complex, AFP reported.
Following the dramatic end to Bashir's rule of three decades
last week, he was moved late Tuesday to Kober prison in the capital, the source
said without revealing his name for security reasons.
Witnesses near the prison in north Khartoum said there was a
heavy deployment of soldiers and members of a paramilitary group outside.
The 75-year-old's whereabouts have been unknown since a
military takeover on Thursday, when the country's new rulers said he was being
held "in a secure place".
Amnesty International called for Bashir to be
"immediately handed over to the International Criminal Court" in The
Hague where he faces charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity relating to the conflict in Darfur.
"His case must not be hurriedly tried in Sudan's
notoriously dysfunctional legal system. Justice must be served," said
Amnesty's Joan Nyanyuki.
Bashir's detention has failed to pacify protesters, who
launched anti-government demonstrations in December and have for days been
camped out in front of Khartoum's army headquarters.
Scores of doctors in white robes marched from Khartoum's
main hospital towards the sit-in, carrying banners and chanting: "freedom,
peace, justice."
Journalists held a separate rally, along with university
students and scores of women from a Facebook group who call themselves
"the Information Network of the Revolution".
The women – who include doctors, lawyers and teachers – are
renowned for monitoring security agents who target protesters and publishing
their information online in order to hold them to account.
Tension at protest site
Sudan's military rulers have made some concessions,
including the sacking Tuesday of prosecutor general Omer Ahmed Mohamed, but
demonstrators fear their uprising could be hijacked.
"We faced tear gas, many of us were jailed. We have
been shot and many have died. All this because we said what we wanted to,"
Fadia Khalaf told AFP.
Khalid Mohamed, a medic, said: "We got Bashir out, but
we still have to get rid of the regime".
Officials say at least 65 people have been killed in
protest-related violence since December, with some of those killed immortalized
in a Khartoum mural.
While there have been scenes of celebration – with
demonstrators singing and waving their national flag – the protest site has
grown more tense amid concerns the army will try to clear the sit-in with
force.
"Now we fear that our revolution could be stolen, which
is why we are keeping our ground here. We are staying here until our demands
are met," said Khalaf.
Earlier this week witnesses said several army vehicles had
surrounded the area and that troops were removing the barricades which
demonstrators had put up as a security measure.
On Wednesday thousands of protesters remained at the site,
cheering each other on despite looking fatigued.
"I feel those people who are doing the sit-in are like
my sons and daughters. I have suffered under this regime," said a woman
serving tea at a makeshift checkpoint set up by protesters.
On taking power the army said a military council would run
Sudan for two years, sparking a backlash from protest leaders.
Just a day later former Defense Minister General Awad Ibn
Ouf stepped down as council chief, sparking jubilation on Khartoum's streets.
His successor General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan oversaw weekend
talks with political parties, which failed to make headway.
AU warns military rulers
The council declared a nationwide ceasefire, but the rebel
Sudan Liberation Army (SLA-AW) fighting government forces in Darfur denounced
what it called a "palace coup".
On Wednesday, a rebel leader ordered a three-month
suspension of hostilities in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states where his
forces have been fighting government troops.
Abdulaziz al-Hilu, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement-North (SPLM-N), issued the command as a "goodwill gesture... to
give a chance for an immediate transfer of power to civilians".
Sudan's foreign minister has said Burhan is "committed
to having a complete civilian government" and has called on other nations
to back the council.
Western powers have backed the protesters' demands for a
civilian administration, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have
thrown their weight behind the military.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called Burhan and
the two discussed "bilateral relations", SUNA state news agency said
Wednesday, adding Burhan also received a letter from South Sudan President
Salva Kiir offering support for the council.