Sudan's military and opposition groups have agreed to resume talks on the formation of a transitional council, an Ethiopian envoy said on Tuesday, as an opposition alliance said that it was suspending its civil disobedience campaign and strikes. Sudan's Transitional Military Council also agreed to release political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, special envoy Mahmoud Dirir told reporters in Khartoum. The steps appeared to show a softening of positions after talks between the two sides collapsed following the violent dispersal of a sit-in protest on June 3. The discussions over the control of the sovereign council that would oversee a three-year transition towards elections came to a standstill. Yasir Arman, one of the three officials from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North rebel movement,who were detained and then deported to South Sudan after the breakdown of talks, said that the military council did not want to cede power.

Source: The Hindu June 12, 2019 07:52 UTC