Military council in charge of Sudan after demise of Bashir
Thousands of people dance and chant in celebration after the arrest of the dictator
Khartoum — Omar Hassan al-Bashir survived multiple armed rebellions, economic crises and attempts by the West to make him a pariah before he was finally ousted as Sudan’s president by the military on Thursday following protests against his 30-year rule. In an address on state television, defence minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said Bashir, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1989, was under arrest in a “safe place” and a military council was now running the country. Sudanese sources said Bashir was at the presidential residence under heavy guard. Tens of thousands of people danced and chanted anti-Bashir slogans in the streets of Khartoum, a sharp contrast to the past, when he fired up crowds with anti-Western rhetoric, sometimes breaking into impromptu dances. Bashir, 75, was a master at playing rival factions among security services, the military, Islamists and armed tribes off against each other. But he underestimated the anger of young Sudanese men and women demanding an...
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