KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudan's president said on Saturday that the country's Transitional Sovereign Council was working to establish civilian rule and prevent tyranny.

"The country's leadership is striving to establish a civilian rule that relies on the support of the armed forces and people (...) and to prevent the establishment of an authoritarian rule in the future," Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said, according to a statement by the council.

He also stressed that the Sudanese army would always be on the side of the people, adding that the army was "part of them and is the backbone for the state and people."

On Jan. 8, political dialogue kicked off in Sudan, based on a framework agreement signed between Sudan's military and political forces on Dec. 5 to resolve the country's months-long crisis.

The deal pledges a two-year transition period and the appointment of a civilian prime minister by the political parties that signed the agreement, as well as reforming and unifying the military.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency, a move decried by political forces as a "military coup."

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar