Sudan: Demonstrations demanding justice and the signing of the interim phase agreement

Thousands of Sudanese demonstrated on Saturday to demand accountability for those involved in breaking the Khartoum sit-in more than a month ago, while disagreement over some details seemed to hinder the final signing of the transitional agreement between the Forces for Freedom and Change and the military council.

Two weeks after large crowds marched across Sudan to demand a speedy transfer of power to a civilian government, the "Justice First" movement launched demonstrations in several Sudanese cities at the invitation of the Sudanese Professionals Gathering (a key component of the Freedom Forces) on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the sit-in General of the Armed Forces.

The official page of the Sudanese Professionals' Forum on Facebook posted video footage of demonstrations in Khartoum and Omdurman, as well as in the cities of Port Sudan, Madani, Qadarif, Kassala, Al-Ubaid and areas in the Darfur region.

Demonstrators held banners demanding the retribution of the killers of protesters during the sit-in, before and after the General Command.

Demonstrations took place last night in some districts of Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan, such as the honeymoon in the state of the Nile River, and Arkweet in the Red Sea Hills region of northeastern Sudan. Participants also called for justice.

The new marches come two days after the publication of new videos, including shocking scenes to end the sit-in Khartoum, and the Sudan Doctors Committee confirmed that 128 demonstrators were killed during and after the operation.

The professional gathering on its Facebook page said a transparent and fair investigation into what he described as massacres and violations against demonstrators was the only way to build a state of law and institutions.

On the demonstrations today, the leader of the Sudanese Congress Party Malik Abu Hassan of the island that it was scheduled two weeks ago, adding that the forces of freedom can not retreat from the demand for justice, because without accountability there will be a democratic transition in Sudan.

Signature of the Agreement
The Sudanese are again on the street, while there is a state of uncertainty and doubt as to the outcome of the ongoing consultations and meetings on the signing of the political agreement, which includes a constitutional declaration of a transitional period of three years.

It is expected that the forces of freedom and change and the military council will hold a new round of talks under the auspices of the African-Ethiopian mediation to pass the constitutional declaration governing the transitional period.

The African mediator Mohamed Hassan Ould Lebat said earlier that it is scheduled to meet representatives of the forces of freedom and the military council this evening to formally sign the agreement reached on the fifth of this month.

However, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals' Association Ahmed Rabie said the meeting had been postponed to Sunday for further consultations, the Associated Press reported.

The Anatolia news agency quoted a Sudanese source as saying that the meeting, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed indefinitely. There is talk of disagreements on some points and details hinder the final signing of the agreement.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Sudanese Communist Party expressed its reservation to the agreement, and opposition to the current members of the military council membership of the sovereign council.

The agreement provides for the formation of a military council of five soldiers and six civilians. The council will be headed by the military for 21 months and then headed by a civilian for 18 months. The agreement also requires the formation of a government of competencies.

In the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, the meetings of the forces of freedom and change and armed Sudanese movements, including the Revolutionary Front, are concluded today to discuss the achievement of peace and national reconciliation.