WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th April, 2019) The Sudanese people deserve to have a civilian-led transitional government instead of being ruled by the military, US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said in a statement.
"The people of Sudan have shown remarkable bravery and solidarity in standing up to repression, and they now deserve a civilian-led transitional government," the statement said on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Sudan's Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf announced that the military has detained President Omar Bashir and imposed a three-month state of emergency. Ibn Auf also announced the forming of a military council tasked with governing Sudan during a two-year transitional period.
Engel expressed concern about Ibn Auf being at the helm in Sudan given that he was an abusive military ruler and one of Bashir's closest advisers.
"While Bashir will no longer terrorize the people of Sudan, I am concerned that Ibn Auf, part of Bashir's inner circle, has proclaimed himself the head of a two-year transitional military government," Engel said. "Surely, the Sudanese government's numerous victims have not forgotten his role in gross human rights abuses, for which he was sanctioned by the United States in 2007."
Engel said it would be extremely difficult for the United States to work with Ibn Auf's government, noting that "a civilian-led government would represent a more natural partner for the United States, one which we could offer debt relief, economic and technical assistance, and normalized relations."
Since December, Sudan has experienced mass protests that often turned violent and resulted in death and injuries.
The protests were initially triggered by increasing prices for bread and other consumer goods that greatly increased the vulnerability of Sudanese citizens. Protesters then called on Bashir to resign and end his 30-year rule.
