President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan in autocratic style for 30 years, was overthrown in a military coup, but protesters’ jubilation was short-lived as they took to the streets demanding military leaders hand over power to civilians.

Bashir, 75, had faced demonstrations against his rule since December. Announcing the ouster, Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said Sudan would enter a two-year period of military rule to be followed by presidential elections.

Speaking on state television, he said Bashir was being detained in a “safe place” and a military council would now run the country. Ibn Auf, who Bashir appointed first vice-president in February as the protests intensified, will head the military council, state television said. Military chief of staff Kamal Abdel Marouf al-Mahi will be deputy head.

Ibn Auf announced a state of emergency, a nationwide ceasefire and the suspension of the constitution. He said Sudan’s airspace would be closed for 24 hours and border crossings shut until further notice.

Bashir’s downfall was the second time this month that a leader in the region has been forced out after mass demonstrations. Algeria’s ailing former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in power since 1999, stepped down on April 2 after six weeks of protests against him extending his rule.

Protesters reject move

The main organiser of protests against Bashir, the Sudanese Professionals Association, rejected Ibn Auf’s plans. It called on protesters to maintain a sit-in outside the defence ministry that began on April 6. Shortly afterwards, tens of thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of central Khartoum, their mood turning from celebration over Bashir’s expected departure to frustration at the announcement of the military-led transition.

“The people do not want a transitional military council. Change will not happen with Bashir’s entire regime hoodwinking Sudanese civilians through a military coup. We want a civilian council to head the transition,” said Alaa Salah, an engineering and architecture student at Sudan International University.

The 22-year-old became a symbol of the protests after being photographed chanting atop a car. “We need international support, for people to be aware of what’s happening and to understand our demands,” she added.

A bloodless coup

Bashir ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi in a bloodless coup in 1989. Bashir, a former paratrooper, has been a divisive figure who has managed his way through one internal crisis after another while withstanding attempts by the West to weaken him. Sudan has suffered prolonged periods of isolation since 1993, when the US added Bashir’s government to its list of terrorism sponsors for harbouring Islamist militants. Washington followed up with sanctions four years later. A long civil war with southern separatists ended in 2005 and South Sudan became an independent country in 2011.

Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is facing an arrest warrant over allegations of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region during an insurgency that began in 2003 and led to the death of an estimated 300,000 people. He denies the allegations. He defied the court by visiting several ICC member states. Diplomatic disputes broke out when he went to South Africa in 2015 and Jordan in 2017 and both failed to arrest him.

Conflict in Darfur

The Darfur conflict began in 2003 in the western region of Sudan when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated government of discrimination. The government was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes in militias known as the Janjaweed and unleashing them on civilian populations. The militias became notorious for massacres and rapes. Despite a 2004 ceasefire and the presence of African Union troops that followed, by 2007 the conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis had left hundreds of thousands of people dead and more than 2 million displaced.

Possible successors

Names circulating about Bashir’s possible successors include the defence minister, an ex-military intelligence chief and former army chief of staff Emad al-Din Adawi. Ibn Auf has long been among Sudan’s senior leadership. Adawi is said to be favoured by neighbours at odds with Bashir over his Islamist leanings.

Ibn Auf has had his assets blocked by the US Treasury since 2007 for supporting and managing militias accused of carrying out genocide in Darfur. His appearance on state television made him the face of the military rule, and the general is likely to become the country’s formal leader, though the make-up of the council has not yet been announced.

Ibn Auf, in his mid-60s, is a longtime insider in the leadership of Bashir’s 30-year rule. He rose up in the ranks to become chief of Sudan’s military intelligence and was made defence minister in 2015.

Global reactions

The US said it was suspending talks with Sudan on normalising relations. The State Department ordered non-emergency US government employees to leave the country and warned Americans against travelling to Sudan due to “crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping and armed conflict”. “The State Department, while declining to declare the takeover a coup, said Washington supported a peaceful and democratic Sudan and believed the Sudanese people should be allowed a peaceful transition sooner than two years from now. The Sudanese people should determine who leads them in their future,” said State Department spokesman Robert Palladino.

EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini has urged Sudan’s army to quickly hand over power to a civilian government, noting the determination of the Sudanese people for change. “Only a credible and inclusive political process can meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people and lead to the political and economic reforms the country needs,” Mogherini said.