This archive report was first published on 12 July 2019.
Published on July 12, 2019, Sudan was on the cusp of a major breakthrough in its transition to civilian rule. The ruling military council and protest leaders had agreed to form a new joint transitional civilian-military governing body, a key step towards installing an overall transitional civilian administration.
However, the process was disrupted by a coup attempt, according to General Jamal Omar of the ruling military council. In a statement broadcast live on state television, Omar said that officers and soldiers, including some retired, were trying to carry out a coup.
"The regular forces were able to foil the attempt," Omar said, but did not specify when the attempt was made. He added that 12 officers were arrested, with five of them being retired, and that security forces were looking for the mastermind of the attempted coup.
The attempted coup was seen as an attempt to block the agreement reached by the Transitional Military Council and the Alliance for Freedom and Change, which aimed to open the road for Sudanese people to achieve their demands.
The landmark agreement was reached after intense mediation by African Union and Ethiopian envoys, and it proposed a three-year transition period, with the president of the new ruling body to be held by the military for the first 21 months and a civilian for the remaining 18 months.
