Activists go to Khartoum to urge handover of power

Sudanese activists travelled by train to Khartoum to join thousands of people gathered outside the military headquarters pressure the ruling military council to speed up the transition of power to a civilian government after the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month.

Khartoum: Sudanese activists were holding nationwide protests on Tuesday to press the military to hand over power to a civilian authority after the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month.

Railway workers and other protesters travelled by train from Atbara, the northern transport hub where the uprising began in December, to the capital, Khartoum, where they were welcomed by cheering crowds.

They joined thousands of people gathered outside the military headquarters, where the protesters have held a sit-in since 6 April.

Mahmoud Ahmed Jameel waited for hours at the main train station in Khartoum to support his fellow protesters from Atbara.

"The people of Atbara, they started the revolution and they are solidifying their presence and they up for the challenge that they started. And we came here to stand with them as they join us in the sit-in at the military compound," he said.

Al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for 30 years, was forced from office on April 11 after four months of protests led by the Sudanese Professionals Association, a group of private unions that is demanding a full and immediate transfer of power to a civilian council.