As thousands again marched on Sudan’s military headquarters in the capital of Khartoum, the United States joined the call for the military transition council to step aside to make way for a peaceful civilian-led administration.
On April 11, the military removed President Omar Al Bashir after four months of protests against his three-decade rule. While the new head of the army-run transition council has said that they leadership will be limited and it could only be months until they are able to hand over to civilian leadership, protesters are unconvinced.
"The will of the Sudanese people is clear: it is time to move toward a transitional government that is inclusive and respectful of human rights and the rule of law," US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Thursday evening.
The remarks appeared to clarify the US position toward the military council's hold on the country, eight days after Mr Al Bashir was removed from office. He is now being held in a central Khartoum prison and two of his brothers have been arrested for corruption as the ruling council cracks down on vestiges of the president’s rule.
A senior State Department official said US Deputy Assistant Secretary Makila James would hold talks in Khartoum over the weekend to assess the situation on the ground.
The official, speaking to reporters on background, described the situation in Sudan as "extremely fluid" and said it was important to avoid a "quagmire of endless deliberations" over who should lead an interim civilian authority.
Demonstrators have said they will not cease until the transitional military council transfers power to civilian-led authorities and elections are held.
Mr Al Bashir faces arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court over accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity in Sudan's Darfur region, but the council has said he won’t be sent to The Hague.
Mr Ortagus said Sudan was still labelled by the US as a state sponsor of terrorism and Washington's policies toward it would be based on "our assessment of events on the ground and the actions of transitional authorities."
But the State Department official said that none of the members of the new military council were under US sanctions.
Sudan was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 under former President Bill Clinton, cutting it off from financial markets and strangling its economy.
Washington lifted a 20-year trade embargo against Sudan in 2017 and was in the process of discussions on removing it from the sponsor of terrorism list when the military stepped in on April 11 to depose Mr Al Bashir, who ruled Sudan for 30 years.
The Trump administration suspended the next round of the talks, scheduled for the end of April, after the military took control.
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THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
THE SPECS
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Match info
Deccan Gladiators 87-8
Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16
Maratha Arabians 89-2
Chadwick Walton 51 not out
Arabians won the final by eight wickets
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Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Intercontinental Cup
Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
Table 1 Ireland, 89 points; 2 Afghanistan, 81; 3 Netherlands, 52; 4 Papua New Guinea, 40; 5 Hong Kong, 39; 6 Scotland, 37; 7 UAE, 27; 8 Namibia, 27
The%20specs
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World Test Championship table
1 India 71 per cent
2 New Zealand 70 per cent
3 Australia 69.2 per cent
4 England 64.1 per cent
5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent
6 West Indies 33.3 per cent
7 South Africa 30 per cent
8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent
9 Bangladesh 0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
