Sudanese protesters condemn killings before transition talks | New



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Thousands of people marched in Sudanese cities to condemn the killing of protesters. The ruling generals and the opposition have announced their intention to resume talks to form a new transitional government.

Protesters on Thursday called for a "march of a million men" to protest the killing of four schoolchildren at a rally held earlier this week against growing lack of bread and vegetables. of fuel in El-Obeid, a city in central Sudan.

Many people who walked in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, took pictures of the four students as well as some of the people killed during the many demonstrations for democracy that resulted in the dismissal of President Omar al-Bashir in April.

The protesters also gathered in El-Obeid, a coastal city in the Red Sea, Port Sudan, White Nile State and the central city of Madani, witnesses said.

Earlier Thursday, a member of Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) accused the paramilitary feared rapid support forces (RSF) of being responsible for the killing of these children.

Jamal-Eddin Omer Mohamed Ibrahim was quoted by the official SUNA news agency. He added that seven members of the RSF who shot the student protesters were arrested.

During a visit to El-Obeid on Wednesday night, Omer told reporters that the rally was initially stopped with truncheons by a group of RSF forces guarding a nearby bank.

"This action provoked a reaction from students who threw stones at the forces, and some members of the force acted individually to open fire on the demonstrators," he said.

"Just around the corner"

On Thursday in Khartoum, opposition leaders of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) said they had resolved the main stumbling blocks in negotiations with Sudanese military leaders, bringing them closer to the conclusion of a power-sharing agreement.

The two groups signed an agreement in July that provided for a three-year transition period and a joint sovereign council with rotating leadership.

But further discussions to consider the details of a constitutional declaration to have stumbled. These talks would have determined the powers and functions of the sovereign council, the composition of a civil legislative council, as well as the immunity of military figures for the crimes of the past.

Negotiations were scheduled to resume later on Thursday, according to the FFC and TMC.

"The agreement is about to arrive," said Satea al-Hajj, FFC negotiator.

The opposition had demanded that members of the Sovereign Council not enjoy general immunity from prosecution for past crimes.

However, FFC leaders said Thursday they have agreed that they could only be granted "procedural immunity", which means that senior officials could be judged with the authorization of two-thirds of the members of the legislative council.

Opposition leaders said the two sides also agreed on another critical point, reaffirming that the parties included in the FFC would have 67% of the legislative council, with the rest being attributed to D & # 39; 39, other opposition and political groups.

The ruling military council in Sudan did not immediately confirm the details of the agreements.

Sporadic episodes of violence have delayed negotiations in the past.

The FFC postponed talks scheduled for Tuesday after the killings of El-Obeid. He reiterated a call to the authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions and said that RSF should be merged with the armed forces.

The protesters accused the paramilitary group, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy director of the TMC, of ​​killing numerous demonstrators since the dismissal of al-Bashir.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

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