February 22, 2020 (JUBA) - The head of the Sovereign Council called on Sudan’s political and civil forces to work together with the military to achieve a successful democratic transition in Sudan stressing that rumours obstruct joint action.

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan made his call from Juba where he attended the swearing-in ceremony of the First Vice President and three vice-presidents marking the launch of the transitional period in South Sudan.

On the sidelines of the swearing-in event, he met with the armed groups participating in the peace talks and the government negotiating teams, the delegation of the Forces For Freedom and Change and experts.

In his meeting with the government and FFC delegations, al-Burhan hailed the concessions done by the South Sudanese leaders for the sake of peace in their country and called on the Sudanese parties to follow suit.

He further for the first time commented on the recent protest in Khartoum for the reintegration of a sacked army officer who was the first military to side the protests against the former regime.

The head of the collegial presidency said that rumours obstruct the joint action of the transitional authority.

"We believe that what happened recently was due to the absence of public awareness".

"There are some people who hate the military accusing them of seeking to rule the country alone"

"This is not true. we want military and civilians build Sudan together. So that we can say we have contributed and participated in the transition (...) for the sake of the country," he stressed.

The former head of the military council said they have good cooperation with the civilian component at the Sovereign Council and same at the level of the cabinet and the coalition of the FFC.

He further called for mutual confidence between saying that the suspicions of betrayal will undermine the transition.

Recently several youth groups on the social media claimed that the army remains under the control of Islamists officers who purged the armed forces from the pro-democracy junior and medium rank officers.

On 15 February, Hemetti voiced publicly his frustration with the continued accusation against the military component of the transitional authority and called for a code of conduct to enhance confidence with the ruling coalition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

(ST)

(ST)