By Spy Uganda Correspondent
Thousands of Sudanese protesters rallied Sunday to mark three years since the start of mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir, as fears mount for the democratic transition.
Authorities shut off bridges linking the capital Khartoum with its twin city Omdurman in anticipation of a large turnout.
Political parties and neighbourhood committees had said they were mobilising people to demonstrate against military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who launched an October 25 coup followed by a bloody crackdown.
Thousands turned out in both Khartoum and Omdurman Sunday, shouting slogans against Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Daglo, also known as Hemeti, witnesses said.
The generals had initially detained civilian leader Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, but reinstated him on November 21.
The move alienated many of Hamdokâs pro-democracy supporters, who dismissed it as providing a cloak of legitimacy for Burhanâs coup.
Hamdok, who has argued he wants to avoid further bloodshed, warned in a late Saturday statement of âthe countryâs slide toward the abyss,â urging restraint from the protesters.
âWeâre facing today a sizeable regression in the path of our revolution that threatens the security of the nation, its unity and its stability,â he said.
Protest organisers have however vowed, in a key slogan, âNo negotiation, no partnership and no legitimacyâ.
Previous protests against the military takeover have been forcibly dispersed by the security forces. Nationwide, at least 45 people have been killed and scores more wounded, according to the independent Doctorsâ Committee.
 Military In âComplete ControlâÂ
December 19 has a particular resonance in Sudanese history.
Not only was it the day in 2018 when thousands launched mass protests that ended Bashirâs three decades in power, but it was also the day in 1955 when Sudanese lawmakers declared independence from British colonial rule.
Following Bashirâs ouster, a joint military-civilian transitional government took power but the troubled alliance was shattered by Burhanâs coup.
Sudanâs military dominates lucrative companies specialising in everything from agriculture to infrastructure projects.
The prime minister said last year that 80 percent of the stateâs resources were âoutside the finance ministryâs controlâ.
Khaled Omer, a minister in the ousted government, said the coup was a âcatastropheâ but also âan opportunity to rectify the deficienciesâ of the previous political arrangement with the army.
He warned that anything could happen over the next few months with the military still firmly in power.
âIf the main political actors donât get their act together and the military establishment doesnât distance itself from politics⊠then all scenarios are on the table,â Omer said.
 Gains UnravellingÂ
The November 21 agreement also set July 2023 as the date for Sudanâs first free elections since 1986.
Hamdok said he partnered with the military to âstop the bloodshedâ that resulted from its crackdown on protests, and so as not to âsquander the gains of the last two yearsâ.
But those achievements have been unravelling, as the political turbulence in Khartoum rekindles conflicts in Sudanâs far-flung regions that Hamdokâs government had made a priority to resolve.
A peace deal it signed with key rebel groups in South Sudanâs capital Juba last year saw the main conflict in Darfur subside, but the region remains awash with weapons and nearly 250 people have been killed in ethnic clashes over the past two months.
Some of the Arab militias â that Bashirâs government used as a counter-insurgency force in its infamous campaign in the early 2000s against ethnic minority rebels â have been integrated into the security apparatus.
Critics say the deal did nothing to bring them to account.