Sudan security forces try to break up Khartoum sit-in

By Mohammed Amin </p> <p>KHARTOUM (AA) – Sudanese security forces on Monday tried to disperse a weeks-long sit-in outside army headquarters in Khartoum, according to the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which is leading ongoing popular demonstrations in demand of civilian rule. </p> <p>In a statement, the SPA said security forces were attempting to remove barricades that had been erected around the sit-in, but were meeting resistance from protesters. </p> <p>“Security forces are trying to tear down the barricades in the Burri district… but protesters have so far prevented them from doing so,” the statement read. </p> <p>The SPA went on to urge supporters to converge on the area to preempt any attempts by security forces to break up the sit-in.</p> <p>According to witnesses, there were fewer protesters than normal at the sit-in on Monday, which coincided with the first day of the Ramadan fasting month. </p> <p>On Saturday, one protester was killed in the southwestern city of Nyala when security forces broke up a similar sit-in.</p> <p>Organizers of the Khartoum sit-in, which began early last month, demand that Sudan’s ruling Military Transitional Council (MTC) hand over power to a civilian authority.</p> <p>On April 11, the Sudanese army announced the “removal” of President Omar al-Bashir following months of popular protest against his 30-year rule.</p> <p>The MTC is now overseeing a two-year “transitional period” during which it has pledged to hold free presidential elections.</p> <p>Demonstrators, however, have remained on the streets to demand that the military council hand over power — at the earliest possible date — to a civilian authority.