Amidst an intense security presence in Khartoum, demonstrations support the civil transition and the Hamdok government, and others call for its overthrow

A demonstration called by the Alliance of Freedom and Change Forces - the Central Council Group to support the government of Abdullah Hamdok launched in Khartoum on Thursday afternoon, while the army and police forces closed roads leading to government headquarters and main markets.

Thousands of Sudanese demonstrated Thursday, in the capital, Khartoum, and the rest of the country's states, to demand "the protection of the revolution, the completion of its tasks and the realization of its demands."

The demonstrators chanted slogans, including "peaceful. Peaceful" and "free revolutionaries. We will continue the journey."

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Posted by Othman Abdel Qader on Thursday, October 21, 2021

Yesterday, Wednesday, the Sudanese Professionals Association called on all sectors to actively participate in the millions (demonstrations) today, Thursday.

The statement stressed the need for an integrated democratic transformation because the people are tired of the chain of individual rule, according to the statement.

Prior to the demonstrations, members of the army closed the streets with concrete barriers and barbed wire to prevent any possible entry of demonstrators to the vicinity of the General Command.

Armored military vehicles, along with dozens of heavily armed soldiers, were also deployed in the streets leading to the army headquarters.

Posted by Southern Belt Resistance Committees on Thursday, October 21, 2021

On the other hand, supporters of the "Forces of Freedom and Change - National Charter Group" coalition continue their sit-in in front of the Republican Palace for the sixth day in a row.

The protesters are calling for expanding the base of participation in the transitional period, commitment to implementing the provisions of the constitutional document, dissolving the current government, forming a government of competencies, and speeding up the formation of the transitional authority structures.

The Beja Optical Council and the Independent Amaudiya in eastern Sudan also organized a demonstration in front of the southern port gate in Port Sudan, northeastern Sudan.

The demonstrators renewed their demands to cancel the eastern path of Sudan in the Juba negotiations, to dissolve the government, and to form a government of non-partisan competencies.

This move coincides with calls by groups of resistance committees in Port Sudan to participate in demonstrations calling for civilian rule.

Avoid violence

And US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said - in a tweet on Twitter - that Washington calls on the Sudanese people to exercise their right to assemble today, Thursday, peacefully and without violence, in line with the transitional period.

The US Embassy in Khartoum also called on civilian and military leaders in Sudan to work together in partnership to overcome their differences and take the necessary measures to implement the basic standards of the constitutional document.

The embassy said on its Facebook page that it encourages peaceful demonstrators, and reminds them of the strong American support for a democratic transition to achieve freedom, peace and justice.

Mona Arko Minawi, the governor of the Darfur region, a leader in the Forces of Freedom and Change - the National Charter Group, accused the Alliance of Freedom and Change Forces - the Central Council group of obstructing the initiative of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok to solve the political crisis, by not naming their representatives in the proposed seven-member committee to resolve the crisis.

The leader of the Alliance of Freedom and Change Forces-National Charter Group, Ismail Gallab, said that the Prime Minister is not neutral in the current crisis, because he supports the Alliance of Freedom and Change Forces-Central Council Group.

Gallab described in a press conference yesterday, Wednesday, the crisis a catastrophe, and said that the Central Council group does not know more about Sudan than the government headquarters in Khartoum.

The success of the transition period

In a parallel context, the head of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, said that the armed forces and the civilian component are keen on the success of the transitional period, leading to the formation of an elected civilian government that meets the aspirations of the Sudanese people.

Al-Burhan stressed, during his meeting in Khartoum with the British Minister of African Affairs Vicky Ford, the commitment to the constitutional document, and the preservation of the partnership between the military and civilian components.

The mechanism of the Sudanese Prime Minister's initiative to resolve the crisis confirmed the continuation of the Sudanese revolution by rallying the masses around its slogans to complete the democratic transition.

In a statement, the Mechanism expressed its hope that the Sudanese people would continue the path of struggle and their legitimate aspirations in building the national state, and called on the police forces to play their role in securing the demonstrations scheduled for Thursday.

For his part, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok said that the Sudanese are the most eager to carry out the goals of the revolution to its end, during his meeting in Khartoum with Payton Nouf, the deputy US envoy for the Horn of Africa.

The Sudanese Prime Minister's office said - in a tweet - that Hamdok thanked the deputy US envoy for the continuous support provided by Washington to the process of civil democratic transition in Sudan.

For his part, the deputy US envoy affirmed his country's keenness to support the civil democratic transition in Sudan, and praised Hamdok's efforts to reach solutions to local and regional issues and challenges.