♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

July 1 – 2019 KHARTOUM The Transitional Military Council (TMC) announced on Sunday that it is ready to negotiate with the Alliance for Freedom and Change (AFC). The TMC responded to the proposals of the Ethiopian and African Union mediators.

The junta's spokesman, Shamsedin El Kabbashi, said that "the TMC has handed over its response to the joint African-Ethiopian team of the African and Ethiopian envoys". He added: "This document affirms that the proposals from the African Union constitute an excellent basis for negotiation and that the TMC is are ready to negotiate from today." El Kabbashi expressed the TMC’s hope of finding a comprehensive political solution for the better of all and under the umbrella of the African Union.

Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, deputy chairman of the military junta, said that the dialogue with the AFC has gone a long way on many issues and that the TMC seeks to reach a comprehensive agreement that does not exclude anyone, so as to reassure that the transitional period will be without problems. While addressing a crowd at Soba in Khartoum, Hemeti said: "The role of the TMC during the transitional period is confined to sponsoring the revolution, protecting it and ensuring it maintains its course, until elections are held." He added that the role of the military council is not only protecting the citizens but also guaranteeing that the peacefulness of the revolution is being maintained.

♦ Massive demonstrations across Sudan, 10 protesters killed

July 1 – 2019 KHARTOUM Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets in Khartoum and many other cities and towns, in response to the call of the Alliance for Freedom and Change. According to journalists and observers, the number of demonstrators exceeded the number of protesters in the demonstration of April 6, that led to the ousting of president Omar Al Bashir.

Ten people were killed and many were injured, sources within Sudan told Radio Dabanga. Hundreds of vehicles of the RSF, Sudan's main militia, and other security forces were seen in the capital Khartoum and in other cities on bridges and on the main roads. The police, security troops, and RSF militiamen fired tear gas during the demonstrations at a high intensity, causing injuries in various cities. Witnesses observed snipers wearing official uniforms on the roof of the Palace of Youth and Children in Omdurman.

♦ Body of killed tea seller found in Sudan’s Nile river

The body of tea seller Amal Gous has been found after she went missing during the authorities’ violent dispersal of the sit-in in front of the army general command in the Sudanese capital on June 3. Her body was found floating in the Nile near Khartoum, the Food and Beverage Workers Cooperation reported in a statement on June 25. Five other women were still missing.

A large number of food and beverage sellers, mainly women, at the sit-in were severely beaten. Many were raped. Several of their children were beaten and sexually assaulted as well. Apart from being subjected to sexual abuse and violence, the street vendors, lost all their financial and in-kind property. The total losses amount to more than one billion Sudanese Pounds, Awadiya Mahmoud, head of the cooperation told Radio Dabanga yesterday. She called on “Sudanese in the country and abroad” to help out the vendors “who lost all their possessions during the dismantling of the sit-in”.

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