UPDATE 2 - Sudan defense minister confirms ‘removal’ of president

UPDATES WITH SPA STATEMENT

By Alaa Walid

ANKARA (AA) – The Sudanese military on Thursday afternoon announced the “removal” of President Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled Sudan since 1989, and the imposition of a two-year “transitional phase”.

In a televised statement, Defense Minister Awad ibn Auf also announced the imposition of a one-month curfew -- to go into effect Thursday evening -- along with a three-month countrywide state of emergency.

Ibn Auf further announced the suspension of Sudan’s 2005 constitution and the dissolution of the Sudanese presidency, parliament and council of ministers.

A military council, he said, would now be drawn up to run the country’s affairs during the post-Bashir interim phase.

In the same statement, ibn Auf said that Sudanese airspace -- along with all border crossings -- would be closed for the next 24 hours.

“The Sudanese judiciary and all its component parts, meanwhile, will continue to function as normal,” he declared, “along with the Constitutional Court and the public prosecutor's office.”

The defense minister concluded his address by pledging to promote “a climate conducive to the peaceful transfer of power… with a view to holding free and fair elections by the end of the transitional phase”.

- Opposition reacts

Sudanese opposition parties and professional associations, for their part, reacted to the announcement negatively, voicing their “total rejection” of what they described as a "military coup".

They made the assertion in a joint statement issued by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) and a number of opposition coalitions.

"The regime has carried out a military coup that will only replicate the same figures and institutions against which the Sudanese people have risen up," the statement read.

It went on to urge Sudanese protesters to "maintain their ongoing demonstrations outside army headquarters in Khartoum and in other parts of the country".

The statement also called on protesters to remain in the streets "until power is handed over to a civilian government that reflects the will of the revolution".

While the opposition supports al-Bashir’s departure, it rejects what it describes as the “replacement of one military coup with another”.

Al-Bashir came to power on the back of a 1989 military coup against the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.

In a subsequent statement, the SPA, which had led recent protests against al-Bashir, urged members of the Sudanese military to be wary of attempts by Algeria’s deep state to “steal the revolution”.

“We call on all officers and soldiers of the Sudanese army… to stand with the people against attempts to steal the revolution by the regime’s old guard,” the statement read.