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Sudan’s military junta is withdrawing from the UN-led talks aimed at breaking the political stalemate, says army chief and coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
He says the military will not take part in the talks to “give room for political and revolutionary forces and other phalanxes” to form a civilian government. The announcement comes after a five-day sit-in in the capital Khartoum.
Al-Burhan added that the military “will not stand in the way” of a democratic transition.
It was in October last year that the Sudanese military overthrew the civilian government and took power in North Africa. Since then, violent protests have shaken the country and more than 100 people have lost their lives in the unrest.
Since March, the UN, the African Union and the regional cooperation body Igad have been trying to resolve the conflict, and on May 29, the military junta lifted the emergency laws that had been in force in the country.
But talks have so far been idle, as civilian groups have boycotted them and demanded that the military surrender to a democratic, civilian government.