Sudanese protest leaders, military 'agree' on new civilian-military transitional council

Sudan's leading protest organisers said on Monday that they had reached an agreement with the country's ruling military council on the makeup of a new "sovereign council" to govern the country.

The military ousted former President Omar al-Bashir last month following months of popular protests and mounting pressure on the armed forces to act in demonstrators' interests.

Since then, the military has ruled the country through a controversial transitional council it had said would be in power for two years before handing over sovereignty to a civilian government.

Protesters have remained on the streets across Sudan calling for an end to martial rule and the formation of a new transitional council at least partially made up of civilians.

"At today's meeting we agreed on the structure of the sovereign council which will include military and civilian representatives," Taha Osman, a spokesman for the Alliance for Freedom and Change (AFC), told AFP.

The AFC, an umbrella group of opposition groups headed by Sudan's leading protest organisers, has been engaged in a series of stop-start negotiations with the military junta since last month.

Osman did not elaborate on the exact number or ratio of civilian and military representatives that would be present on the council - an issue that has been a sticking point for protesters who desire a majority-civilian transitional body.

"Tomorrow's discussions will revolve around the composition of the council," he explained.

Shams al-Deen Kabashi, spokesman for the transitional military council, claimed that had agreed upon the structure of the future council.

"We discussed the structure of the transitional authority and agreed on it completely, and we also agreed on the system of governance in the transitional period," he said.