Khartoum (AFP)

Sudan's transition to a civilian power is struggling to set in place, the military and leaders of the protest have not yet announced Tuesday the composition of the Sovereign Council originally scheduled two days earlier.

This body, which will have a majority of civilians, must oversee the transition of about three years to allow Sudan to turn the page of three decades of reign of General Omar El-Bashir, the former president dismissed April 11 to month after protests throughout the country.

On Monday, Bashir appeared in court to answer charges of corruption, an event unimaginable for two-thirds of the 40 million Sudanese who had known him in power since birth.

On Tuesday, all Sudanese newspapers devoted their headlines to this appearance of a once powerful man.

If the trial reflects the profound political changes underway, the transfer of power to the Sovereign Council by the generals holding the reins of the country since the departure of Mr. Bashir has fallen behind.

Promised for Sunday under a historic transition agreement between the generals and the protest, Council composition was delayed to Tuesday.

This postponement was requested by the Forces for Freedom and Change (FLC), a result of the main organization of the protest movement, said the military in power. The latter would have returned to their list of names.

The Sovereign Council will have six civilians and five military personnel. It will be led by a general during the first 21 months and then by a civilian the remaining 18 months.

According to the initial terms of the transition agreement, he was to indicate Tuesday whether he validates as Prime Minister the candidate presented by the dispute, the economist and former UN collaborator Abdallah Hamdok.

The latter will then form a government on August 28, which will tackle the difficult task of straightening a bloodless economy and pacifying a country marked by several internal conflicts, particularly in Darfur (west).

A transitional parliament will also be formed.

- Discomfort -

Despite the euphoria generated by the official signing of the transitional agreement on Saturday, there is palpable uneasiness in the protesters' camp due in part to the omnipresence of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of a dreaded paramilitary force accused of being involved in the repression of the protest.

He is also number two of the Transitional Military Council.

More than 250 people have died since the start of the December 19 protests in Sudan, including 127 on June 3 when a sit-in dispersed in front of the army headquarters, according to a committee of doctors close to the protest.

Initially organized to protest the rise in the price of bread, they turned into a challenge to President Bashir and generals who took his suite, the protesters demanding a civilian power in Sudan.

Sudanese women, who have been heavily involved in protests in recent months, have also expressed disappointment at the low presence of women in the transition process.

The NGO Amnesty International also warned that Bashir's corruption trial should not detract from the heightened charges against him for his alleged role in the conflict in Darfur (west).

It is the subject of international arrest warrants of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in response to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, in this conflict that broke out in 2003.

© 2019 AFP