KHARTOUM--President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan in autocratic style for 30 years, was overthrown in a military coup on Thursday, but protesters' jubilation was short-lived as they took to the streets demanding military leaders hand over power to civilians.
Bashir, 75, had faced 16 weeks of demonstrations against his rule. Announcing the ouster, Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said Sudan would enter a two-year period of military rule to be followed by presidential elections.
Speaking on state television, he said Bashir was being detained in a "safe place" and a military council would now run the country.
Ibn Auf, who Bashir appointed first vice president in February as the protests intensified, will head the military council, state TV said late on Thursday. The Sudanese military's chief of staff Kamal Abdel Marouf al-Mahi will be its deputy head.
Ibn Auf announced a state of emergency, a nationwide ceasefire and the suspension of the constitution. Seated on a gold-upholstered armchair, he said Sudan's airspace would be closed for 24 hours and border crossings shut until further notice.
The main organiser of protests against Bashir, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), rejected the minister's plans. It called on protesters to maintain a sit-in outside the defence ministry that began on Saturday.
Shortly afterwards, tens of thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of central Khartoum, their mood turning from celebration over Bashir's expected departure to frustration at the announcement of the military-led transition. National flags were waved over the vast crowds, which included families, women and people of all ages. "Fall, again!" many chanted, adapting an earlier anti-Bashir slogan of "Fall, that's all!". Some wrote anti-Ibn Auf slogans on their clothes.
Sudanese sources told Reuters that Bashir was at the presidential residence under "heavy guard". State television said there would be a nighttime curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
In a clear challenge to the military council, several thousand protesters remained in front of the defence ministry compound, and in other parts of the capital, as the curfew went into effect. They chanted "They removed a thief and brought a thief!" and "Revolution! Revolution!"
Some shops in Omdurman, across the River Nile from central Khartoum, remained open past 10 p.m., a Reuters witness said. "To comply with the curfew is to recognise the clone rescue government," SPA said. "Stay put and guard your revolution."
SPA also said the sit-in outside the defence ministry compound will not end until power is handed to a civilian transitional government.
The United States said it was suspending talks with Sudan on normalising relations. The State Department, while declining to declare the takeover a coup, said Washington supported a peaceful and democratic Sudan and believed the Sudanese people should be allowed a peaceful transition sooner than two years from now.
