Sudan military says senior officers arrested over attempted coup

The army said that the attempt was trying to reinstate Omar Al Bashir to power

Deputy Head of Sudanese Transitional Military Council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Ethiopian mediator Mahmoud Dirir and African union envoy to Sudan Mohamed Al-Hacen Lebatt pose for a photograph after signShow more

Sudan's military said on Wednesday that it had thwarted a coup attempt and arrested an unspecified number of senior officers in connection with a plot to restore the party of ousted President Omar Al Bashir to power.

The ruling military council took over after the army ousted Mr Al Bashir on April 11 following months of street protests.

It is working with an alliance of protest and opposition groups to finalise a power-sharing deal for a three-year transition towards elections, a process that repeatedly stalled until the two sides signed a power-sharing accord last week. They are due to resume talks on Saturday, state news agency SUNA said.

"The failed attempt aims to abort your glorious revolution and to return the former National Congress regime to power, and to disrupt the path before the expected political solution that aims to establish a civilian state," the military said in a statement.

It said the coup attempt involved Gen Hashim Abdel Mottalib Ahmed, head of the joint chiefs of staff; a number of high-ranking officers from the armed forces and the National Intelligence and Security Service; and leaders of the National Congress Party and the Islamic Movement party Mr Al Bashir also headed.

Among those detained was Gen Bakri Hassan Saleh, who served as first vice president and prime minister until months before Mr Al Bashir was ousted, sources close to the military council said. He was a leading figure in the 1989 coup that brought Mr Al Bashir to power and was one of his closest confidants throughout his 30-year rule.

Also detained was Ali Karty, an influential former foreign minister widely believed to currently head the Islamic Movement, sources with knowledge of the matter said. He became Sudan's central Islamist figure after Mr Al Bashir was forced out.

Mr Al Zubair Ahmed Hassan, a former finance minister who was secretary general of the Islamic Movement until Mr Al Bashir's was deposed, was also detained, the sources said.

"They have been detained and investigations with them are occurring so that they can be tried," the military said.

It was not clear when the attempt coup happened, but the military's statement said it had been monitoring a failed attempt in the "past weeks" and was now uncovering its details.

Sudan's military council said earlier this month that it had thwarted an attempted putsch. It said it involved a number of retired officers as well as others still in service.

It was not immediately clear if these latest comments were about the same incident.