KHARTOUM: Sudan
took further steps in its transition towards civilian rule yesterday with the
swearing in of a new sovereign council, to be followed by the appointment of a
prime minister. The body replaces the Transitional Military Council (TMC) that
took charge after months of deadly street protests brought down longtime ruler
Omar Al-Bashir in April. As a result of yesterday's move, it was the first time
that Sudan was not under full military rule since Bashir's coup d'etat in 1989.

The first steps
of the transition after the mass celebrations that marked the Aug 17 adoption
of a transitional constitution proved difficult however. The names of the joint
civilian-military sovereign council's 11 members were eventually announced late
Tuesday after differences within the opposition camp held up the process for
two days. General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who already headed the TMC, was sworn
in as the chairman of the new sovereign council in the morning.

Wearing his usual
green beret and camouflage uniform, Burhan took the oath in a short ceremony,
one hand on the Koran and the other holding a military baton under his arm. He
will be Sudan's head of state for the first 21 months of the 39-month transition
period, until a civilian takes over for the remainder. The council's 10 other
members were sworn in shortly afterwards and Abdalla Hamdok, who was chosen by
the opposition last week to be prime minister, was due to be sworn in later
yesterday.

HH the Amir of
Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday sent a cable of
congratulations to Burhan. In the cable, the Amir congratulated him on forming
the new sovereign council and on being sworn in as its chairman, wishing him
best of luck and to Sudan and its people more progress. HH the Crown Prince
Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber
Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables to the Sudanese leader.

The sovereign
council includes two women, including a member of Sudan's Christian minority,
and it will oversee the formation of a government and of a legislative body.
The inauguration of the civilian-dominated ruling council, which held its first
meeting in the afternoon, was widely welcomed but some Khartoum residents
warned they would keep their new rulers in check. "If this council does
not meet our aspirations and cannot serve our interests, we will never hesitate
to have another revolution," said Ramzi Al-Taqi, a fruit peddler. "We
would topple the council just like we did the former regime," he said.

The transition's
key documents were signed on Saturday at a ceremony attended by a host of
foreign dignitaries, signalling that Sudan could be on its way to shedding its
pariah status. Sudan's new rulers are expected to push for the lifting of the
suspension from the African Union that followed a deadly crackdown on a sit-in
in June. The ruling council will also seek to have the country removed from the
US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Bashir is wanted
by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his role in massacres in
the Darfur region, where a rebellion broke out in 2003. He appeared in court on
Monday - but only on charges of corruption for the opening of a trial in which an
investigator said the deposed leader admitted to receiving millions in cash.
Pictures of the 75-year-old autocrat sitting in a cage during the hearing
instantly became a symbol of his Islamist military regime's downfall.

The sight of
their former tormentor in the dock was overwhelmingly welcomed by the Sudanese
but many warned the graft trial should not distract from the more serious
indictments he faces before the ICC. "The evidence he committed genocide
should come forward... Many civilians inside and outside Sudan have died
because of him and he should face justice," one resident, Alhaj Adam, told
AFP.

Sudan's
transitional authorities would need to ratify the ICC's Rome Statute to allow
for the transfer of the former military ruler to The Hague. Amidst the euphoria
celebrating the promise of civilian rule, unease was palpable within the
protest camp that brought about one of the most significant moments in Sudan's
modern history. One reason is the omnipresence in the transition of Mohamed
Hamdan Daglo, a member of the sovereign council and a paramilitary commander
whose forces are blamed for the deadly repression of the protests. His Rapid
Support Forces sprang out of the Janjaweed militia notorious for alleged crimes
in Darfur.

Pacifying a country
still plagued by deadly unrest in the regions of Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile
will be one of the most urgent tasks of Sudan's transitional institutions. The
other daunting challenge that awaits the fragile civilian-military alliance is
the rescue of an economy that has all but collapsed in recent years. It was the
sudden tripling of bread prices in Dec 2018 that sparked the wave of protests
fatal to Bashir's regime. Premier-designate Hamdok was flying in from Addis
Ababa, where he served as a senior economist with the United Nations. -
Agencies