The Fight to Save Sudan from the Counterrevolution
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After three months of nationwide demonstrations, protesters began congregating in central Khartoum on April 6, demanding the removal of longtime strongman Omar Hassan al-Bashir. On April 11, the uprising ended al-Bashir’s 30-year rule. He now faces criminal charges, just as Egypt’s Mubarak did.
But thousands of protesters in Sudan, aware that the country’s army would likely try to replace one military-backed tyrant with another, refused to leave the streets of Khartoum. Organizers of a large protest outside military headquarters demanded that al-Bashir be put in prison. The army complied.
The demonstrators then called for early elections and a civilian-led government. The generals countered by offering a “managed transition” led by a military council, which would produce elections and a civilian government within two years. Not good enough, said the protesters. The crowd grew, and tensions surged.
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