Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was deposed by the army on Thursday and consultations were under way to form a transitional council to run the country, drawing a line under three decades of autocratic power that included allegations of genocide, Reuters reports.
Sudanese sources told Reuters that Bashir, 75, was at the presidential residence under “heavy guard”. A son of Sadiq al-Mahdi, the head of the country’s main opposition Umma Party, told al-Hadath TV that Bashir was being held with “a number of leaders of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group”.
It was not known what would now happen to Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague and is facing an arrest warrant over allegations of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region during an insurgency that began in 2003 and led to death of an estimated 300,000 people.
The downfall of Bashir follows the toppling this month of Algerian strongman Abdelaziz Bouteflika, also following mass protests after three decades in power.
Government sources and the minister of production and economic resources in North Darfur, Adel Mahjoub Hussein, told Dubai-based al-Hadath TV that Bashir’s presidency was over and consultations were being held on creating a ruling military council.
Early on Thursday morning, state television said the military would make an announcement soon. But hours later no statement had been issued, amid reports of differences about the make-up of the transitional council.
