AFP
Khartoum
With talks suspended between protest leaders and Sudan’s military over a transfer of power to civilian rule, hardline movements are backing the army in the hope it will keep sharia law in place.
Fundementalist parties stayed on the sidelines during the months of nationwide protests that led to the April ouster of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir.
They have since not joined the protest alliance at loggerheads with the generals over the makeup of a new governing body, which would rule the country for a three-year transitional period.
But hundreds of hardliners have rallied in the capital in recent days, warning they would reject any deal that would exclude sharia–Islamic law –from the country’s political roadmap.
They have also backed the army’s demands that the head of Sudan’s new governing body be a military figure–putting them at odds with protesters who want civilian rule.
"We agree with (protesters) that there will be a cabinet of civilian technocrats,” said Hassan Rizk, deputy head of the Islamist Reform Now Movement, a breakaway group from the National Congress Party formerly led by Bashir.
"But the sovereign council should be headed by the armed forces because there is a security problem.” Bashir came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989 and Sudanese legislation has since been underpinned by Islamic law.
But the protest leaders have remained silent on whether sharia has a place in Sudan’s future, arguing that their main concern is installing a civilian administration.
Ultraconservative preacher Abdelhay Yousef, a leader of the Nusrat Al-Sharia movement, drew large crowds Friday at a mosque in the capital’s southern Jabra district.
He used his sermon to champion Islamic law and to rail against the prospect of secular rule.
Buses then transported worshippers to a courtyard outside Khartoum’s presidential palace where they broke their daytime fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan before rallying against the roadmap.
Khartoum
With talks suspended between protest leaders and Sudan’s military over a transfer of power to civilian rule, hardline movements are backing the army in the hope it will keep sharia law in place.
Fundementalist parties stayed on the sidelines during the months of nationwide protests that led to the April ouster of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir.
They have since not joined the protest alliance at loggerheads with the generals over the makeup of a new governing body, which would rule the country for a three-year transitional period.
But hundreds of hardliners have rallied in the capital in recent days, warning they would reject any deal that would exclude sharia–Islamic law –from the country’s political roadmap.
They have also backed the army’s demands that the head of Sudan’s new governing body be a military figure–putting them at odds with protesters who want civilian rule.
"We agree with (protesters) that there will be a cabinet of civilian technocrats,” said Hassan Rizk, deputy head of the Islamist Reform Now Movement, a breakaway group from the National Congress Party formerly led by Bashir.
"But the sovereign council should be headed by the armed forces because there is a security problem.” Bashir came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989 and Sudanese legislation has since been underpinned by Islamic law.
But the protest leaders have remained silent on whether sharia has a place in Sudan’s future, arguing that their main concern is installing a civilian administration.
Ultraconservative preacher Abdelhay Yousef, a leader of the Nusrat Al-Sharia movement, drew large crowds Friday at a mosque in the capital’s southern Jabra district.
He used his sermon to champion Islamic law and to rail against the prospect of secular rule.
Buses then transported worshippers to a courtyard outside Khartoum’s presidential palace where they broke their daytime fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan before rallying against the roadmap.