Three members of Sudan's military council resign ahead of major protest

The resignations came after the military council and protest leaders held talks ahead of planned rallies on Thursday. The military council said it reached agreement on "most demands" from opposition leaders.Three members of Sudan's ruling military council resigned Wednesday after the body met with protest leaders demanding a swift transition to civilian rule following the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades.

The 10-member military council said it reached "agreement on most demands" presented by the opposition umbrella group Alliance for Freedom and Change, without elaborating on the points of agreement or what issues still divide the opposition and military. Read more: The Sudanese military: A pawn of the Saudis? Moments after the late-night meeting the military council said Lieutenant General Omar Zain al-Abdin, Lieutenant General Jalaluddin Al-Sheikh and Lieutenant General Al-Tayieb Babikir had resigned. The military council and protest leaders also said a joint committee would be established to address political disputes between the two sides. The meeting came after leaders of the opposition group that led four months of protests against Bashir's autocratic rule had suspended talks over the weekend with the military council. The Sudanese Professionals Association and its allies, which spearheaded the protests, sat down with the military council before a massive planned rally on Thursday in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities demanding civilian rule. Some protest leaders have accused the military of replacing one dictatorship with another and demanded a transitional civilian body to lead to the country towards democracy. The military council, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since his predecessor quit after a day in the post, has said it plans to rule for a two-year period. cw/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters) Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.