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Sudanese student Alaa Salah became one of the symbols of the protest movement that overthrew leader Omar al-Bashir. She now insists that she continue to demonstrate until the civil system is insured.
The young 22-year-old engineering and architecture student took on a great importance when a picture of her dressed in a white dress leading crowds chanting crowds chanting a car in Khartoum turned to social media.
Shortly after April 11, the military deposed longtime leader Bashir, but since then a 10-member military council has resisted calls for handover.
Every evening, Salah joins the crowd that was still encamping around the army's headquarters in the capital, training thousands of protesters to sing their calls for change.
"We remain on the site of the event until all our requests are satisfied," said Salah in an interview with AFP.
"We want a democratic civilian government and all the corrupt personalities of the old regime are prosecuted".
Like many people gathered outside the military complex, she insists that "we do not want words, we want deeds".
"Bashir was just the face of the regime, we want the whole regime to be uprooted."
"No political aspirations"
Portraits of Salah – nicknamed "Kandaka" or Nubian Queen online – appeared on murals across Khartoum following the fall of Bashir.
The iconic image captured her dressed in the traditional flowing white scarf and skirt, her golden-eared full-moon earrings reflecting at sunset.
This outfit is a nod to the leading role played by women in protests that ended the veteran leader's three decades of reign.
"I wore this outfit as part of an initiative to support the revolution," she said.
Symbolic is also the song that she recites to elevate the spirit of the protesters.
Sudanese protesters have seen long-time leader Omar al-Bashir ousted from power and are now pushing the new ruling military council to hand over power to a civilian administration. By – (AFP)
The words are those of a well-known Sudanese poem that says "a bullet does not kill, what kills, it's the people's silence" – a feeling that she says appropriately captures the new spirit challenge of Sudan.
The protest movement in the country began in December in reaction to the tripling of the price of bread by the authorities.
This quickly escalated into nationwide protests against Bashir led by a coordinating group and opposition political groups called the Alliance for Freedom and Change.
Alliance leaders who demonstrated against the mobilization had managed to mobilize their supporters – young, old, women, men, professionals and students – by publishing calls to online events.
"I am one of those who took to the streets on the basis of the schedules announced by the Alliance for Freedom and Change," Salah said.
She also participated in demonstrations on her campus as demonstrations in the street provoked brutal repression by the authorities.
According to officials, at least 65 people have been killed in demonstrations of violence since December.
Despite her new fame as the face of the uprising, Salah insists that she intends to limit her political involvement to these protests.
"I do not have a political affiliation, I am a normal citizen who has gone down the street for the sake of our country," she said.
"I have no ambition in politics … but I like doing social work."
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