For the ninth day in a row, supporters of the "Forces of Freedom and Change - the National Charter Group" continued their sit-in in the vicinity of the Republican Palace in Khartoum, amid hit-and-run operations between the police and demonstrators who blocked roads and bridges in the capital.

The protesters renewed their adherence to their demands represented in dissolving the transitional government, forming a government of competencies, expanding the base of political participation, or what they call a return to the first founding platform.

The Sudanese police reopened the "Al-Mak Nimr Bridge", which links the center of Khartoum with the city of Khartoum North, after a group of protesters closed it for a few hours near the Republican Palace.

The police used tear gas to disperse the protesters on the bridge, and other groups of protesters had closed a number of main roads in the capital, especially the Nile, Al-Jamaa and Al-Qasr streets, in whole or in part.

The protesters also set fire to tires on Nile Street, and the closure caused a suffocating traffic jam that lasted for hours, while the security forces intensified their deployment in the side streets in central Khartoum.

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The governor of Khartoum, Ayman Khaled, said that a group of NCP affiliates closed the "Al-Mak Nimr" bridge and the Nile Street, which caused traffic disruption.

The governor added that he "instructed the police to open roads and deal legally and decisively with this blatant abuse of the dissolved party's affiliates," in reference to the former ruling party.

In a related context, the Ministry of Culture and Information condemned the attempt to storm the headquarters of the Sudan News Agency yesterday, Saturday, and prevented the holding of a press conference for the Forces of Freedom and Change-Central Council Group, as well as the attempt to close the southern entrance to the ministry.

Yesterday, Saturday, supporters of the Forces for Freedom and Change-National Charter Group were accused of closing the building of the Ministry of Culture and Information in Khartoum and placing concrete barriers in front of its doors, in conjunction with the storming of the headquarters of the Sudanese News Agency.

The protesters demanded that the media be for all Sudanese without prejudice to parties at the expense of others, as they put it.

political moves

On the political front, Abdel Aziz Asher - adviser to the head of the Justice and Equality Movement - told Al Jazeera that the US envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Fletman, met with the movement's leader, Jibril Ibrahim, and the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement, Minni Arko Minawi.

Abdul Aziz Asher explained that Feltman expressed his concern over the transitional period, and Ibrahim and Minawi urged him to cooperate with their colleagues in Freedom and Change - the Central Council Group, to treat their problems and not allow the military to trap them, as he put it.

He added that Jibril Ibrahim and Mona Marco Minawi told Feltman that the forces of freedom and change are committed to a democratic transition leading to an elected government, and that the group committed to the survival of the government is a small group.

🔥 #Sudan: Democratic Senator Bob Menendez calls on the Sudanese army to exercise restraint and the Sudanese authorities to secure the safety of those demanding political freedoms and human rights, and reaffirms the support of America and its allies for the aspirations of the Sudanese people for a civilian-led transition towards democracy… https://t.co/rXrwIfudle

— Rana Abtar - Rana Abtar (@Ranaabtar) October 23, 2021

He accused this group of hijacking the scene and political decision, seizing the joints of the state, and disrupting the most important institutions, including the Legislative Council and the Constitutional Court.

They considered that the way out is to put pressure on the other side of freedom and change to dissolve the government, and to establish a government of independent competencies so that the parties devote themselves to the elections.

Feltman also called on the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council in Sudan, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan (Hemedti), and Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok to work together to cross the transitional phase towards its goals.

He called for not excluding any of the parties to the political process in Sudan, stressing that the difference in the positions of the political forces is the reason for delaying the formation of a number of institutions without which a safe transition will not take place.

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In turn, Al-Burhan stressed the expansion of political participation, a return to the platform for establishing the Forces of Freedom and Change, and recourse to the Constitutional Document and the Juba Agreement.

Hamdok also discussed with Feltman the political situation in the country, and the importance of preserving the democratic civil transition process.

The council explained - in a statement - the congruence of the two sides' views on holding free and fair elections, through which the Sudanese people choose their representatives at the end of the transitional period.

The Cabinet indicated that Hamdok and Feltman discussed the current crisis, and ways to get out of it by adhering to the constitutional document and the Juba Agreement.

strict adherence

For his part, Sudanese Minister of Justice Nasr Abdel Bari called for adherence to the provisions of the constitutional document.

In a series of tweets on Twitter, Abdel Bari said that strict adherence to it is the only practical way out of what he described as a fabricated crisis to impose a new political reality in Sudan.

Abdel Bari stressed the need to implement the provisions of the constitutional document in order to fully transition to democratic civilian rule.

I prefer expressing my positions with actions than with words or words.

But I now find it necessary to express in words my position regarding the way out of what is going on, which is the position of the vast majority of Sudanese, the owners and protectors of the revolution;

The only practical way out of what is going on these days, from the invented crisis to create

— Nasredeen Abdulbari (@nasabdulbari) October 24, 2021

The situation in the east

Regarding developments in the east of the country, Al-Jazeera correspondent in the Red Sea state quoted local sources as saying that a government delegation, headed by the Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas, is arriving in Port Sudan on Sunday.

Abbas's visit falls within the mandate of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok to hold a meeting with the leaders of the Beja Optical Council and the independent columns in eastern Sudan.

The council had imposed a closure on the Red Sea state's ports, railways, and a pipeline for transporting petroleum derivatives towards Khartoum, as well as the road linking Port Sudan and other cities, to pressure the government to achieve a number of political demands.