THE head of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council (TMC) announced today that negotiations with the civilian-led opposition were over and called for elections in nine months.

In a televised address this morning General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said: “The military council decides on the following: cancelling what was agreed on and stopping negotiating with the Alliance for Freedom and Change, and to call for general elections within a period not exceeding nine months.”

Meanwhile the TMC, which came to power after ousting former president Omar al-Bashir following months of popular protest, continued its brutal crackdown on dissents today.