*New Head of State now General Ahmed Ibn Auf
Sudan’s President Omar el-Bashir has been removed by the military after months of anti-government protests against his three-decade rule.
General Ahmed Ibn Auf was sworn in on Thursday evening as chief of a new military council that will rule the country for two years, hours after declaring that Sudan’s long-time ruler had been overthrown and arrested.
The coup and installation of the council was rejected by the protesters, who said the moves did not meet their long-standing demands for a civilian-led government.
Since December, Sudan has witnessed persistent protests sparked by rising food prices that quickly escalated into wider calls for el-Bashir’s departure.
The latest crisis escalated on April 6 when thousands of demonstrators began a sit-in outside the army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum. Dozens of people have been killed in protest-related violence since the start of the demonstrations.
