Sudan’s military rulers on Wednesday suspended crucial talks with protesters on installing civilian rule, insisting that negotiations will resume only after demonstrators remove roadblocks put up in parts of Khartoum, protest leaders said.
The suspension came after at least eight people were reported wounded by gunshots near a sit-in in the capital, shortly before decisive talks were to be held between the ruling military council and the protest leaders on a transitional governing body.
Army generals and protest leaders were expected to finalise the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for three years, the thorniest issue in installing civilian rule.
But a spokesman for the umbrella protest group, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, said the council had suspended the talks.
“They asked us to dismantle barricades in parts of the capital,” Rashid al-Sayid told AFP, referring to roadblocks put up by demonstrators on key roads in recent days that had angered the generals.
Another protest leader Ahmed al-Rabie also confirmed the military council’s decision.
Just hours before the talks were due to start, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, wrote on Facebook that eight people had been wounded by live fire.
A witness told AFP that gunshots had been fired near the sit-in outside the army headquarters in central Khartoum.
The British ambassador to Khartoum said Sudanese security forces had fired at protesters.
“Extremely concerned by use of live ammunition by Sudanese security forces against protesters in Khartoum today, with reports of civilian casualties,” Irfan Siddiq wrote on Twitter.
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“Military council must act to stop this now. No more excuses.”
Protest leaders responded by urging people to boost the numbers at the demonstration, while avoiding clashes.
Security forces were seen chasing protesters in downtown Khartoum and removing some roadblocks, an AFP correspondent said.
The protest movement that brought down president Omar al-Bashir after 30 years of iron-fisted rule is demanding a civilian-led transition, which the generals have steadfastly resisted since bowing to their demands and toppling the autocrat.
A breakthrough came despite the talks being marred by violence that left six people dead on Monday at the sit-in. Protest leaders said it was sparked by security forces trying to remove barricades.
After Wednesday’s shootings, another key group in the protest movement urged people to join the thousands of demonstrators at the site, some of whom have camped out round-the-clock for weeks.