Date: Apr 22, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Sudan army ruler says committed to handing over power to civilians Large sums of cash found at Bashir's home Agence France Presse KHARTOUM: Sudan's military leader vowed Sunday the army was committed to handing power to the people, as a protesters' deadline for unveiling a rival civilian council loomed. New army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan also pledged to respond to demonstrators' demands within a week. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates meanwhile offered $3 billion in financial aid to cash-starved Sudan. Longtime leader Omar al-Bashir was ousted on April 11 after three decades of iron-fisted rule, when the military deposed him bowing to weeks of mass protests which began in mid-December. A military council has been put in place for a planned two-year transition period, but despite talks with protesters the two sides have struggled to agree on the shape and form of a civilian leadership. "The council is committed to give power to (the) people," Burhan insisted, in his first interview on state television since taking power. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), at the forefront of the campaign, has defiantly said it will unveil its own civilian council later Sunday, and thousands have gathered outside the army headquarters in Khartoum ahead of the 1700 GMT announcement. "We are waiting for the announcement today," Romaysaa Omar, one of the protesters at the sit-in area, told AFP. "All Sudanese people are in favor of the council to be announced by the SPA." Whistling and waving Sudanese flags, dozens of demonstrators were sitting on a bridge at the site, rhythmically banging stones against metal. On Saturday, protest leaders and the military rulers held talks about a power handover and agreed to continue discussions. "We clarified our main demand, which is the transfer of power to civilian authorities," Siddiq Yousef, a senior member of the Alliance for Freedom and Change, the umbrella group leading the protest movement, told state television after Saturday's talks. "We agreed to continue negotiations to reach a solution that satisfies both the sides, so that the transfer of power will happen in a peaceful way." Since Bashir was ousted by the army, the military rulers have resisted calls to transfer power to a civilian body. "What we want from them is a timetable to hand over power, so things don't drag on," said Ahmed al-Rabia, a leader of the umbrella group of unions for doctors, engineers and teachers. On Sunday, the Alliance for Freedom and Change said it will continue with the sit-in "until all our demands are met". Protest leaders say the civilian council would form a transitional government to rule Sudan for a four-year term, followed by elections. "All we hope for is to be ruled by civilians and get rid of the military rule," said protester Ehsan Abdallah. The military council has made some concessions to the protesters by agreeing to demands such as detaining Bashir and releasing many political prisoners and demonstrators. Prominent Sudanese journalist Khalid Tijani said the protest leaders were in a "tough situation" over finalizing the civilian council. "If they are not ready with the names, it will send a negative signal, and this will not be to the benefit of the revolution," said Tijani, editor of economic weekly Elaff. Sudan investigating Bashir after large sums of cash found at home: source Reuters KHARTOUM: Sudan's public prosecutor has begun investigating ousted President Omar al-Bashir on charges of money laundering and possession of large sums of foreign currency without legal grounds, a judicial source said Saturday. The source said that military intelligence had searched Bashir's home and found suitcases loaded with more than $351,000 and six million euros, as well as five million Sudanese pounds. "The chief public prosecutor ... ordered the [former] president detained and quickly questioned in preparation to put him on trial," a judicial source told Reuters. "The public prosecution will question the former president in Kobar prison," the source added. Relatives could not be immediately reached on Saturday for comment about the investigation. Bashir, who is also being sought by the International Criminal Court over allegations of genocide in the country's western Darfur region, was ousted on April 11 by the military following months of protests against his rule and had been held at a presidential residence. Bashir's family said this week that the former president had been moved to the high-security Kobar prison in Khartoum. As president Bashir often played up his humble beginnings as the child of a poor farming family in Hosh Bannaga, a small village consisting mainly of mud houses on the eastern bank of the Nile some 150 km north of Khartoum. The Sudanese Professionals' Association, leading the protests, has called for holding Bashir and members of his administration to account, a purge of corruption and cronyism and easing an economic crisis that worsened during Bashir's last years in power. On Wednesday, Sudan's transitional military council ordered the central bank to review financial transfers since April 1 and to seize "suspect" funds, according to state news agency SUNA. The council also ordered the "suspension of the transfer of ownership of any shares until further notice and for any large or suspect transfers of shares or companies to be reported" to authorities. Sudan delegation to visit US to discuss lifting of terrorism listing: SUNA Reuters KHARTOUM: A Sudanese delegation will visit the United States soon to discuss Sudan's removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, state news agency SUNA reported Sunday. "The delegation could be formed and travel to the United States this week or next week for discussions about lifting Sudan's name from the list of nations supporting terrorism," SUNA quoted the head of the Sudan's Transitional Military Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, as saying. Saudi Arabia, UAE grant $3 billion of support to Sudan Reuters DUBAI: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have granted Sudan $3 billion in support, Saudi state news agency SPA said Sunday. "This is to strengthen its financial position, ease the pressure on the Sudanese pound and increase stability in the exchange rate," the Saudi Press Agency said. It is the first major publicly announced assistance to Sudan from Gulf states in several years. The two Gulf states have ties with the head of Sudan's Transitional Military Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, through their participation in the ِArab-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Sudan has been suffering from a deepening economic crisis that has caused cash shortages and long queues at bakeries and petrol stations. Over the last few years, Sudan's cash-short government expanded money supply to cover the cost of expensive subsidies on fuel, wheat and pharmaceuticals, causing annual inflation of 73 percent and the Sudanese pound to plunge against the dollar. The grant includes a $500 million deposit into Sudan's central bank, while the rest will be in the form of food, medicine, and petroleum products, SPA said.