Sudanese to hold mass protest for civilian rule as talks with generals fail

The opposition alliance - the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) – urged Sudanese to gather in neighbourhoods and converge towards the military council headquarter's in Khartoum to hold a mass sit-in, The New Arab’s Arabic service reported.

A "million" people will take part in the demonstration, the opposition has claimed, to demand the military council "hand power to a pure civil interim administration and to build a robust and democratic nation", DFCF said in a statement early Thursday.

The military council said in a statement on Tuesday that the two sides are split over who should make-up the Sovereign Council and who should lead it.

Both sides said early Tuesday that they intend to continue the talks, without setting a date.

The generals and protest leaders are at loggerheads over the final composition of the next ruling body, the thorniest issue so far in negotiations between the two sides.

The military council insist that the new body be military-led but the protest leaders are determined to have a majority civilian body.

On Sunday, the protest movement said it is determined to have a "civilian sovereign council led by a civilian as its chairman and having a limited military representation".

The current military council that took power after ousting Bashir on 11 April is headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the generals negotiating with protesters have previously said that Burhan would lead the new governing body too.

Read more: Key powers urge immediate resumption of Sudan talks: US

Before talks were suspended the two sides had agreed on several key issues, including a three-year transition period and the creation of a 300-member parliament, with two thirds of lawmakers to come from the protesters' umbrella group.

Meanwhile, the US, the UK and Norway issued a statement urging a transition to civilian rule.