Sudan’s public prosecutor has ordered ousted President
Omar al-Bashir to be interrogated on charges of money laundering and financing
terrorism, as hundreds of thousands of protesters joined a sit-in to demand the
army give way to civilian rule.
Bashir was removed by the military on April 11 after
months of demonstrations against his 30 year rule. He is also wanted by the
International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes over the conflict in
Sudan’s Darfur region.
The prosecutor’s statement said other unidentified senior
figures would also be investigated for financial crimes.
The huge crowd that gathered on Thursday outside
the defence ministry was answering a call by an alliance of activists and
opposition groups to join a protest march through Khartoum.
The Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF)
alliance said on Thursday it had sent the Transitional Military Council (TAMC)
set up after Bashir’s ouster a draft constitutional document containing its
vision for the transitional period.
Protesters and activists have been negotiating with the TMC to
form a joint civilian-military body to oversee the country until elections. But
the parties are deadlocked over who would control the new council and what the
features of a transitional government would be.
The constitutional draft, seen by Reuters, outlines the
duties of a sovereign transitional council which the opposition groups hope
will replace the TMC, but does not specify who would sit on it. It also
outlines the responsibilities of the cabinet and a 120-member legislature.
Opposition groups say the ruling council must be
civilian-led and have promised to maintain a sit-in outside the Defence
Ministry until their demands are met, but the TMChas shown no sign of
willingness to relinquish ultimate authority.
At a televised news conference, a spokesman for the DFCF said
it expected a response from the military to its constitutional draft within two
or three days. The TMCacknowledged receiving the draft and said in a
statement that this step pushes dialogue forward.
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