Four demonstrators and one army major have been killed in gunfire in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, on Monday, hours after pro-democracy protest leaders and the ruling generals reached a political deal on the structure of the transitional authority to run the North-East African country following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir last month.
Violence erupted on Monday even as the nation’s public prosecutor said in a statement that the former ruler had been charged over his role in the killing of protesters during demonstrations that led to the end of his 30-year rule on April 11.
The army officer and protesters were killed at a sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum where thousands of protesters have been camping for weeks, demanding a civilian rule and asking the army generals who took power after toppling al-Bashir to step down.
The ruling military council said three soldiers and several protesters and civilians were also wounded when unidentified armed groups fired shots at the Khartoum sit-in. A doctors’ committee linked to the protest movement later said four more protesters had been shot dead.
In an overnight press briefing, the council said it would never fire on peaceful protesters, but added that rogue elements had infiltrated into protesters to cause trouble.
“There are people who are infiltrating these groups; they are armed and they targeted some of our military personnel,” Huthaifah Abdul Malik, head of military intelligence, said.
“We reaffirm that we are monitoring all those outlaws and we know who are infiltrating and are provoking the military and all their components.”
But protesters felt the crowds outside the army headquarters were not armed, saying everyone coming in out of the sit-in area was being searched at the several barricades set up by them on the roads leading to the site.
According to an Al Jazeera report, some people who have been receiving treatment at the medical clinics set up in the square had seen men wearing the uniforms of the [paramilitary] Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacking them, adding that the army will have a hard time to earn the confidence and the trust of the protesters after Monday’s bloody clashes.
Earlier, the umbrella protest movement, the Freedom and Change alliance, said the violence was to “disturb the breakthrough in the negotiations”, blaming the bloodshed on the former rulers.
On Monday morning, police and the 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.
For a second day, 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.
Later, RSF men used gunfire to disperse protesters next to 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 told Reuters News Agency.
Meanwhile, talks between the military and an opposition alliance over the handing to civilian rule resumed on Monday, with both sides saying 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 Lieutenant General Shams al-Din Kabashi, spokesman of the transitional military council.
Taha Osman, a spokesman for the protest movement, confirmed a deal had been reached following a deadlock in negotiations.
“At today’s meeting, we agreed on the structure of the authorities and their powers,” Osman told the AFP news agency.
“The authorities are as follows – the sovereign council, the cabinet and the legislative body,” he said.
Osman also said that another meeting would be held on Tuesday “to discuss the period of transition and the composition of the authorities”.
The generals insist the transitional period should be two years, while protesters want it to be four years.
The apparent breakthrough came as al-Bashir and others were charged for inciting and participating in the killing of demonstrators.
The charges form part of an investigation into the death of a medic killed during a protest in the capital’s eastern district of Burri.
Ninety people were killed in protest-related violence after demonstrations initially erupted in December over a government decision to triple the price of bread. he official death roll is 65.
Earlier this month, the public prosecutor ordered al-Bashir lodged in a prison in Khartoum to be interrogated on charges of money laundering and financing terrorism.