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The Sudanese protesters on Sunday hailed the progress of talks with army leaders who agreed to form a joint civil-military council, paving the way for a civilian administration, as demanded by protesters.
Saturday's agreement would replace the current military council of 10 members who took power after the military overthrow of veteran leader Omar al-Bashir on April 11 amid mbadive protests.
"What happened yesterday is a step to having civilian authority," said Mohamed Amin, one of the thousands of protesters who had been camping for weeks in front of the headquarters.
"We are pleased with the progress in the negotiations, but we are still waiting for the composition of the council and the civilian government."
The civil-military joint council will be the general governing body, while a new civilian transitional government should be formed to handle the country's current affairs, a key demand from the protesters.
This civilian government will work to organize the first post-Bashir elections.
"When we have a civilian government, then we can say that our country is on the right track," said Amin.
The protesters indicated that they would continue their sit-in until the establishment of a civilian administration.
"Last night's agreement is a step forward in the stability of our country, but I do not think we are going to leave the sit-in until we get the civil government's request." ", said protester Sawsan Bashir.
The leader of the protest, Ahmed al-Rabia, confirmed to AFP the decision to form a joint council.
"We are consulting on the percentage of board members who should be represented by civilians and by the military," said Rabia, who was involved in discussions.
Long discussions
Activists say the new council could be made up of 15 members, with eight civilians and seven army generals.
The decision to create a joint council was made after Saturday's multi-hour talks, the first of its kind by a joint committee representing the ruling military leaders and protesters.
Bashir was ousted by the army after months of protests against his three-decade reign.
Thousands of protesters, stealing flushes of tear gas fired by security forces, reached the army headquarters on April 6, demanding that the army support opponents of Bashir.
Five days later, the army overthrew Bashir but then took power in his hands through a 10-member transitional military council.
The leaders of the protest had already held several rounds of inconclusive talks with the military council since Bashir's ouster.
The military council has so far insisted that he was in power for a transitional period of two years.
Western governments have expressed support for protesters' demands, but major Arab Gulf lenders have backed the military council, while African states have asked the army for more time to leave it to civilians.
Buses carrying protesters continued to arrive Saturday on the protest site, with hundreds of protesters coming from the eastern province of Kbadala, said an AFP photographer.
Call to join the ICC
At the joint committee meeting on Saturday, opposition leader and former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi told reporters that Sudan should join "immediately" the International Criminal Court.
Bashir is wanted by the Hague-based tribunal for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the Darfur conflict, but the 75-year-old man has denied several the charges against him.
The war in Darfur broke out in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government, accusing it of social and political marginalization.
According to the United Nations, about 300,000 people have died in the conflict, and 2.5 million people have been displaced, many of them still living in miserable camps across the west of the country.
Spokesman of the protest group, Amjad Farid, told reporters that Bashir and other prominent figures of the regime could be tried in Sudan.
"We are not seeking retaliation against them, but we want to rebuild our justice system to hold them accountable for their crimes," he said.
Mahdi, who was fired from office by Bashir during a coup in 1989, stated that Bashir's ousting of the army was "not a coup of the military state ".
But he warned that Bashir's friends still clung to power despite the upheaval.
"The overthrown regime could still try to make a coup d'etat," he said without giving further details.
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