Sudan protest leaders call for two-day general strike against military government

Sudan's protest leaders on Friday called for a two-day general strike next week against the military government, following continued political deadlock in the country. 

"There is no longer any alternative to using the weapon of a general strike," the Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella group said in a statement Friday.

The movement said the strike - affecting "public and private institutions and companies" - would be accompanied by civil disobedience and was "an act of peaceful resistance with which we have been forced to proceed".

The announcement comes following a breakdown in talks between protest leaders and the military on installing civilian rule.

Meanwhile, thousands of Islamists - allied with ousted president Omar al-Bashir's regime - rallied in the capital Khartoum to support military-backed Islamic rule as protesters seek to abolish it.

Led by Nusrat al-Sharia and Rule of Law - a coalition of Islamic parties - protesters chanted, "Freedom, peace, justice and shariah are the people's choice".

Vice president of the Islamist coalition, Mohammed Abdel-Kareem, said the rally was a message to the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change - the movement that led protests that forced Bashir out - "that (Islamists) have a say in Sudan".

Bashir left office in April following weeks of mass protests against his rule. He has been replaced by a military government with a pledge of a transition to democracy within two years.

Protesters and general has disagreed on the make-up of a temporary authority, with activists demanding more civilian leaders on the panel.