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Former Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi on Friday called for an "objective" international investigation into the deadly crackdown on protesters last week after the ruling military council rejected such an investigation.
Thousands of protesters who had camped in front of the army headquarters in central Khartoum for weeks were dispersed on June 3 by men in military fatigues, as part of an operation that made dozens of dead.
The crackdown followed the failure of talks between the protest leaders and the generals over who should lead a new governing body – a civilian or a soldier.
The generals have repeatedly promised not to disperse the sit-in, but admitted Thursday that "errors" had occurred.
Mahdi, after attending the Friday prayer in a mosque in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum, condemned the operation.
"The dispersal of the demonstration was a mistake, there should be an independent international investigation on this," he told AFP.
"It is important that the investigation be objective and not biased in favor of the authorities."
Mahdi's elected government was overthrown in 1989 by an Islamist-backed coup led by Omar al-Bashir.
After three decades in power, Bashir himself was ousted in April following mbad demonstrations backed by Mahdi.
Bashir was replaced by a military council, but protesters proceeded to a sit-in in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum to demand the transfer of power to a civilian regime.
The repression that took place on the site on June 3 killed about 120 people and injured hundreds, according to doctors linked to the movement.
The Ministry of Health has estimated 61 deaths.
The protest movement also called for an international investigation, which was rejected by the military council.
"We do not accept an international commission of inquiry, we are a sovereign state," spokesman Lieutenant-General Shamseddine Kabbashi told reporters Thursday.
Expressing his "regret" over the events of June 3, Kabbashi said his plan was to clean up an area close to the sit-in, but that "excesses took place".
He added that the army is conducting its own investigation, whose findings are due to be released on Saturday.
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