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The protest leaders in Sudan canceled the talks with the army, saying they needed more time to conduct internal consultations. No new date has been set for the resumption of negotiations.
On Wednesday, the two sides signed a power-sharing agreement to form a joint civil-military body to set up a civilian administration.
Everyone in the protest movement is not on board. "We need more internal consultations to achieve a united vision," Omar al-Digeir, the prominent leader of the protest movement, told AFP on Friday.
This delay came two days after Sudanese army leaders and protesters signed a power-sharing agreement to form a joint civil-military body to set up a civilian administration.
However, protest leaders said the three rebel groups in the opposition umbrella movement had expressed reservations about Wednesday's agreement.
"I am going to Addis Ababa to meet the Sudanese Revolutionary Front to get their opinion," said Digeir.
It may not be good. Wednesday's agreement provoked friction within the opposition.
"I do not know why they signed the agreement, the other parties were not present," said Zeinab Eldai, a former French diplomat in Paris and now a member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
"The rebel groups in Addis Ababa did not even know that the document was going to be signed that day, and the Sudanese people either," she told RFI.
Thorny issues
Friday's talks aimed to finalize a "constitutional declaration" to resolve the outstanding issues.
Eldai says that negotiations can only advance when everyone is on board.
The problem is not everyone.
The Alliance for Freedom and Change that leads negotiations with military leaders "are not united," said the former diplomat. "The military council exploits its divisions."
The other problem is the protesters. "Whenever there is a failure in the negotiation process, they go down the street."
Hundreds of protesters marched Thursday in the capital, Khartoum, to pay tribute to the dozens of people killed in the protest movement that has lasted for several months.
Police used tear gas to disperse protesters gathered in a prominent place called Green Yard, which was renamed Freedom Square.
Too many concessions
The violence is likely to deepen divisions between the army and protesters, caused by the brutal June 3 raid, which left dozens dead and hundreds wounded.
Protesters and human rights groups accuse the paramilitary group of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, which is very fearful, of carrying out the crackdown. The group rejected the defamation charges.
At the same time, the Sudanese military council has demanded that soldiers involved in other acts of violence benefit from "absolute immunity" from prosecution.
The request was to be one of the most controversial issues during Friday's talks, as some members of the Sudanese people felt that the protest movement had made too many concessions.
"They gave too much," says Eldai. "It was almost a real revolution, but these negotiators gave too much legitimacy to the military council and have since lost face," she said.
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