The Beja Optical Council in eastern Sudan announced its refusal to back down from its demands, which include the formation of a government of competencies, while a Sudanese minister accused authorities of seeking to exploit the eastern crisis, and this comes amid a heated dispute between the civil and military components over transferring the leadership of the transitional phase to civilians.

In his statements today, Saturday, Abdullah Obshar, the rapporteur of the Council of Beja Opticals and Independent Amaudiyas in eastern Sudan, described the issue of the people of the East as sacred, and it cannot be undone.

Obshar said that the path of eastern Sudan in the Juba negotiations has become a thing of the past, stressing that the council did not accept the holding of any conference after the "Sinkat" conference, which he said they seek to implement its decisions by providing a negotiating platform for the issue of eastern Sudan.

He added that correcting the course of the Sudanese revolution at this stage is based in eastern Sudan, and he saw that the demands of the Beja people constitute a correction of the Sudanese revolution, and a real return to the constitutional document and the government of competencies instead of the partisan government, which he said negatively affected the course of the Sudanese revolution.

The tribal leader sent a message to the international community and the troika states in which he affirmed the council's insistence on its demands and its readiness for dialogue in order to reach solutions, noting that the people of eastern Sudan have been calling throughout the past eras for what he called historical rights, fair division and effective participation.

The head of the Beja Optical Council and the Independent Counties, Muhammad Al-Amin Turk, confirmed to Al-Jazeera earlier his willingness to open the closed areas, on condition of canceling customs fees, at a time when Western countries called on the leaders of the region to end the blockade of Port Sudan and engage in a political dialogue with the government.

For three weeks, protesters supporting the Beja Council have been blocking sea ports, roads and railways, and the closure includes Port Sudan port and the oil pipeline that feeds the capital, Khartoum, which prompted Sudanese officials to warn of a serious crisis.


Repercussions of the closure

In the context, a source at the Ministry of Health in the Red Sea State (northeast of Sudan) told Al Jazeera that more than 75 containers of medicines and medical supplies are still in Port Sudan, waiting for the shipment procedures to be completed.

The Board of Beja Opticals and Independent Al-Amoudiya in eastern Sudan had allowed the shipment of more than 60 containers carrying medicines via the national road to Khartoum and other states, while the Minister of Finance announced the resort to air freight.

For his part, Head of the Chambers of Petroleum Transportation in the Red Sea State, Taj Al-Sir Karrar, said that more than 200 trucks loaded with fuel were unable to leave Port Sudan due to the closure.

Karrar explained - in a statement to Al Jazeera - that the fuel loaded in the trucks is intended for the operation of power stations in Khartoum, as well as sugar and cement companies.

Earlier, the Sudanese government announced that it would resort to airlifting some basic supplies from eastern Sudan;

Due to the continued closure of the main ports and roads in the east, amid signs of the emergence of a severe bread crisis in the capital, Khartoum.


Exploiting the crisis

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khaled Omar Youssef said that there are parties with coup tendencies within the authority that seek to exploit the crisis in eastern Sudan.

In a post published today, Saturday, on his Facebook account, Youssef affirmed the government's commitment to a political solution to the crisis in eastern Sudan, noting that the closure led to the suffocation of the country.

The Sudanese minister believed that the demands in eastern Sudan could be expressed in a better way than closure.

With regard to the dispute between the civil and military components, Youssef said that the statement of the First Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council, Muhammad Hamdan Hemedti, regarding the subordination of the security and police forces to the military represents a clear violation of the constitutional document.

He believed that Hemedti's statement constitutes a direct threat to the fulfillment of the obligations and tasks of the constitutional document, which will be addressed in a serious and strict manner, he said.

Hemedti had said that the handover of the presidency of the Sovereign Council to civilians was not discussed, as the matter was ahead of its time, stressing that the police and the General Intelligence Service would only be handed over to an elected government.