Arrest of senior officers and Islamic leaders for allegedly planning coup in Sudan

Security forces block the roads as thousands of Sudanese protesters stage a demonstration after the call from Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) and Alliance of Freedom and Change, demanding the ruling military council to hand over power to civilian authorities, in Khartoum, Sudan on 30 June 2019. [Ömer Erdem – Anadolu Agency]

Sudan’s Transitional Military Council arrested on Wednesday senior army officers on charges of “planning for a coup”. The arrests included leaders belonging to the Islamic movement, according to a Sudanese military source.

The well-informed source explained in a statement to Anadolu Agency that “the campaign of arrests included two symbolic figures of the former regime.”

“The arrested officers had been moving since late Tuesday evening to implement the plan,” the source pointed out, refusing to mention the names and ranks of officers, describing them as “high-ranking” officers.

Local media reported that the arrest campaign included the Chief of the Sudanese Joint Staff, General Hashim Abdul Muttalib Babakir, the Commander of the Armoured Corps, Major General Nasruddin Abdul Fattah, and the Commander of the Central Region, around which the army headquarters is located, Major General Bahruddin Ahmed Bahr.

Several local websites said that the Military Council arrested former Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti and the Secretary-General of the Islamic Movement Al-Zubair Ahmed Al-Hassan.

Read: Ex-Israel spy admits lobbying US on behalf of Sudan military council

The forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change in Sudan called on Wednesday for the organisation of marches on Thursday, in the capital Khartoum and several cities, “in rejection of the partisan quotas.”

This comes after two days of calls by activists to organise processions heading to the headquarters of the Sudanese Professionals Association in Khartoum, to call for abiding by the Charter of Declaration of Freedom and Change following the news of the nomination of party members for ministerial positions including the Prime Ministry.

On January 1, the Sudanese Professionals Association, the alliances of Sudan Call, the National Consensus Forces and the Democratic Unionist Party signed the Charter of Declaration of Freedom and Change to overthrow the former President Omar Al-Bashir.

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