Sudan's Bashir ousted by military and placed under arrest

President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years, was on Thursday overthrown in a coup by the armed forces which announced a two-year period of military rule to be followed by elections.

In an address on state television, Defense Minister Awad Mohammad Ahmad Ibn Auf said Bashir, 75, was under arrest in a "safe place" and a military council was now running the country.

Seated on a gold-upholstered armchair, Auf announced a three-month state of emergency, a nationwide ceasefire and the suspension of the constitution. He also said Sudan's air space would be closed for 24 hours and border crossings shut until further notice.

Sudanese sources told Reuters that Bashir was at the presidential residence under "heavy guard." A son of Sadiq al-Mahdi, the head of the country's main opposition Umma Party, told Al-Hadath TV that Bashir was being held with "a number of leaders of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group".

Thousands of people flocked to an anti-government protest outside the Defense Ministry on Thursday, while huge crowds took to the streets in central Khartoum, dancing and shouting anti-Bashir slogans.

Demonstrators called for a civilian government and said they would not accept an administration led by military and security figures, or by Bashir's aides.

Omar Saleh Sennar, a senior member of the Sudanese Professionals' Association, one of the main protest groups, said it expected to negotiate with the military over a transfer of power. "We will only accept a transitional civilian government," Sennar told Reuters.

Kamal Omar, 38, another demonstrator, said: "We will continue our sit-in until we prevail."

Some demonstrators, who have rallied against Bashir since Dec. 19, said they feared the delay would allow him to go into exile.

Troops deployed around the Defense Ministry and on major roads and bridges in the capital.

Soldiers stormed the headquarters of Bashir's Islamic Movement, the main component of the ruling National Congress Party.

Agencies