'Nobody is in charge right now'

Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential who has covered the region for over three decades, told Middle East Eye that the transition in Sudan will be “a lot more complex and contested than anyone thinks”.

“Nobody is in charge right now. The Vice President [and Defence Minister Lt Gen Awad Ibn Auf who announced on state television that Bashir was under arrest on Thursday] is nominally in charge but the bulk of the army won’t stand for that,” said Smith.

Many, he said, are watching Lt Gen Kamal Abdul-Marouf, the military’s joint chief of staff, to see if can play the role of a midwife to a transitional regime.

Regardless of today’s announcement, there will be a lingering problem with consensus among the military.

“More or less everyone over the rank of colonel in the army has bought in, more or less, to the regime. Everyone under that rank is against [Bashir]. The young soldiers and officers are against him,” he said.