Toppled Sudanese ex-President Bashir shifted to jail

Khartoum, April 17 (IANS) Sudan's former President Omar al-Bashir has been moved from the presidential residence to the Kobar maximum security prison in Khartoum, days after he was deposed in a military coup, the media reported on Wednesday.

He was reportedly being held in solitary confinement and surrounded by security. Bashir led Sudan for nearly 30 years and is accused of organising war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's western Darfur region, for which the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant.

Months of protests in Sudan, which began in response to a rise in living costs, led to the ousting and arrest of the long-time ruler last Thursday.

The BBC reported that until now Bashir's whereabouts since his removal were unknown. The coup leader at the time, Awad Ibn Auf, said the former leader was being detained in a "safe place". He himself stood down soon afterwards.

Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan was then named head of the transitional military council to become Sudan's third leader. But despite that demonstrators stayed on the streets seeking an immediate move to civilian rule.

Reports earlier this week said there had been efforts to disperse a sit-in, but protesters joined hands and troops stepped back from a confrontation.

The Sudanese Professionals' Association (SPA), which spearheaded the protests, urged supporters to stop efforts to disperse them, calling on demonstrators to "protect your revolution and your accomplishments".

An SPA spokesman told the BBC the group "completely rejected" the transitional military council leading the country, and said protesters seek the dismantling of state intelligence agencies and the "full dissolution of the deep state".