The leader of the military coup in Sudan has stepped down, a day after he helped remove long-term president Omar al-Bashir from power.
Defence minister Awad Ibn Ouf has handed over the leadership of the transitional military council to another senior military figure - General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, general inspector of the armed forces.
He said he had stepped aside to preserve the unity of the armed forces.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of the capital Khartoum demanding a return to civilian rule, after the president was removed from power after a 30-year reign this week.
File photo of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, 08-01-2017. Image: Depo Photos/ABACAPRESSMilitary
The military has said it will not spend more than two years in power – and will refuse to extradite the former president to The Hague to face war crimes charges.
A spokesperson said handing him over to UN authorities would be "an ugly mark on Sudan."
The 75-year-old is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague over alleged crimes against humanity and genocide for his campaign against insurgents in Darfur.
Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million driven from their homes by militias he backed from 2003 in what has become known as this century's first genocide.
People celebrate outside the Sudanese army headquarters after Defense Minister Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf announced he is stepping down as head of the country, 13-04-2019. Image: Ala Kheir/dpaMilitary leadership
In a news conference, Colonel General Omar Zein Abedeen insisted the removal of the president was “not a coup,” but a “tool of change.”
He told protesters camped outside the military headquarters in the city that the army came “to guide the country forward.”
He promised the army would stay on only as long as it is needed – or for a maximum of two years.
Sudan
Despite his comments, pro-democracy protesters, who spent four months on the streets rallying against al-Bashir, continued their campaign for a civilian government.
The protesters have continued their campaign in defiance of a military-imposed state of emergency and night-time curfew.
As the number of people at the sit-in grew during the afternoon, Abdelhamid Ahmed, a 24-year-old doctor, said: "We do not reject a military council in principle, but we reject these people because they are from Bashir's regime."
The military spokesman vowed that the military council now running the country would not interfere with a civilian government – but insisted the defence and interior ministries would be under the council's control.
