Sudan military leader vows to hand power over to people

In an effort to placate angry protesters, Sudan's interim leader Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Sunday vowed to transfer the power to a civilian authority.

"The transitional military council is complementary to the uprising and the revolution. The council is committed to handing over power to the people," Al Jazeera quoted Lieutenant General Abdel as saying.

"We are not greedy at all to want to stay in power more than the time we agreed upon with the opposition parties. We are waiting for the opposition to submit their proposal," he added.

But opposition leaders claim that the military is planning to stay in power. "The military council is still not serious about handing power over to civilians. This council is also representing part of the old regime," said Mohamed al-Amin Abdulaziz, the spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA).

"We will continue our protests and we will escalate our protests. We will boycott talks with the military council," he said.

Meanwhile, demonstrators are protesting outside the military headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, vowing to continue the sit-in until a civil government is installed.

The uprising in the south African nation began last December. The initial protests which were triggered by the rise in prices of bread amongst other consumer goods led to the toppling of the former president Omar al-Bashir. Fearing military rule, people continue their protest, but now their target is the military regime. Amid the protest against the council, the head of Sudan's transitional military council, Awad Ibn Auf had to step down from his post a day after taking office.

Omar Bashir was removed in a military coup on April 11. He was arrested and later moved to the maximum security Kober prison here, which has been notorious for holding political prisoners during Bashir's 30-year long reign.

Following the ousting of the president, the transitional council was constituted with an aim to transfer the power to the next government smoothly.