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The Sudanese army on Tuesday canceled a power transfer agreement with protesters and called for elections within nine months, a day after breaking up with force of a sit-in for a week, killing more than 30 people
The Transitional Military Council deposed President Omar al-Bashir in April, after months of protests against his authoritarian regime, and agreed on a three-year transition period to a civilian administration. .
But the army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced in a televised statement that the plan had been dropped and that an election would be held under "regional and international supervision".
"The military council decides the following: cancel what has been agreed, stop negotiations with the Alliance for Freedom and Change and convene general elections in no more than nine months," Burhan said.
Dozens of protesters were killed and hundreds injured on Monday in the bloody crackdown outside the headquarters of the Khartoum army, which was strongly condemned by the international community.
Members of the heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were deployed around the capital, guarding entrances to the bridges crossing the Nile and moving convoys around the city.
The United States has described the move as "brutal" repression against protesters, who want the generals behind the overthrow of veteran President Omar al-Bashir to be returned to civilian rule.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the excessive use of force against protesters and called for an independent investigation.
The UN Security Council will meet in camera on Tuesday to discuss Sudan, after Britain and Germany have called for talks, diplomats said.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, close to the protesters, said the toll of the "mbadacre" had risen to more than 30, with "hundreds of wounded".
An eight-year-old was among those killed, he added, calling for "urgent support" from humanitarian organizations to help the wounded.
Images from the Royal Care Hospital earlier in the day near the sit-in site showed people on the floor of treatment rooms being treated by uniformed men sitting in pickups gathered outside.
An AFP correspondent said the streets of the capital were largely empty Monday night, at which time the city is usually busy.
& # 39; Bloody Mbadacre & # 39;
Protesters who had erected barricades earlier in the day blocked some streets.
Many shops and businesses have been closed around the city.
The military council denied that his forces had violently dispersed the sit-in in front of army headquarters, while protesters were walking down the streets of cities elsewhere in the country.
But the protest leaders said the main Khartoum site had been cleaned up.
"Rapid support forces, the army, police and battalions have dispersed the peaceful sit-in," said the Alliance for Freedom and Change.
Outside the army headquarters "there is no one, except for the pure bodies of our martyrs that it was not possible to. evacuate from the site ".
The Sudanese Trade Association, which spearheaded national protests that began in December, said Monday's crackdown was a "bloody mbadacre".
He called on the Sudanese to participate in "total civil disobedience" to overthrow the military council.
He also asked people to go out Tuesday to celebrate the end of Ramadan with Eid prayers, "pray for the martyrs," and then "protest peacefully."
The official date of Eid al-Fitr in Sudan was set for Wednesday, announced the official SUNA news agency.
The doctors' committee said that the armed forces opened fire inside the city's East Nile hospital and prosecuted "peaceful protesters".
The rallies against Bashir's authoritarian regime that lasted three decades resulted in his ouster in April, but protesters had remained outside army headquarters, calling on the generals to cede power to a transitional authority .
"Heavy shots"
Britain's ambbadador to Khartoum, Irfan Siddiq, said he had heard "heavy gunfire" from his home.
The US Embbady in Khartoum said that "attacks by security forces against protesters and other civilians are false and must stop."
"The responsibility lies with the TMC and the TMC can not responsibly lead the Sudanese people," he added, referring to the Transitional Military Council.
Tibor Nagy, deputy secretary of state for Africa, said on Twitter that it was "a brutal and coordinated attack, led by the Support Forces militia" that reflected some of the worst crimes of the Bashir regime ".
Moussa Faki, chairman of the African Union Commission, called for "an immediate and transparent investigation to hold all those responsible accountable".
Amnesty International has urged the international community to consider "all forms of peaceful pressure, including targeted sanctions against members of the Sudanese transitional authorities responsible for this morning's violent attack on sleepy protesters".
The Alliance for Freedom and Change announced "the end of all political contact and negotiations with the putschist council" following these deaths, even though the United Arab Emirates and Egypt had called for a dialogue.
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