Transitional military council formed in Sudan

Sudanese Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf was sworn in on Thursday as head of the transitional military council, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Ibn Auf took the constitutional oath as chairman of the Transitional Military Council, which he said will rule the country during a two-year transitional period to be followed by presidential elections, according to official Sudan TV late on Thursday. The Sudanese military's chief of staff Kamal Abdul-Marouf Al-Mahi was named as deputy head of the council, the report said.

Ibn Auf announced suspension of the interim constitution of the Republic of Sudan, and the closure of the Sudanese air space for 24 hours together with border crossings all over Sudan until further notice, according to Xinhua.

China has closely followed the development of the situation in Sudan and pursues the principle of non-interference in others' internal affairs as always, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday.

China believes Sudan is capable of handling domestic affairs and safeguarding national peace and stability, Lu said.

Regardless of how the situation in Sudan changes, China will continue working to maintain and develop friendly cooperation with the country, he added.

Early on Thursday, Ibn Auf announced the ousting of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and the government, and declared a state of emergency for three months and an immediate curfew from 10 pm to 4 am for one month.

Some Sudanese protesters disagreed with the measures announced by Ibn Auf and the army. The Sudanese Professionals Association, an opposition organization, stressed in a statement its decision to continue the sit-in in front of army's general headquarters until power is handed over to a civil authority, Xinhua said.

The international community called for dialogue and reconciliation during the transition process in Sudan.

Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, reiterated his call for "calm and utmost restraint by all" in Sudan on Thursday.

Guterres said that the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people will be realized through an appropriate and inclusive transition process, and reaffirmed that the UN stands ready to support the Sudanese people as they chart a new way forward, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Russia has called on all political forces in Sudan to return order to the country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"We are closely monitoring the situation, and we hope that there will not be an escalation of the situation that could lead to human sacrifice," Peskov said, adding the developments in Sudan were exclusively an internal affair of the Sudanese people.

Egypt expressed its full support for the choice of the Sudanese people and their free will to determine the future of Sudan, according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Cairo also urged the international community to support what the Sudanese people will agree on "in this decisive historical stage."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for national reconciliation in Sudan and managing the transition process peacefully.

Since Dec 19 last year, Sudan has been witnessing popular protests over deteriorating economic conditions and price hikes of basic commodities, with 1.9 million people displaced in the country and 1.2 million refugees.

Liu Xuan and Zhou Jin in Beijing contributed to this story.

(China Daily 04/13/2019 page8)