it's about 430 in the morning. it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with many zena badawi on the grounds of the presidential palace here in khartoum's sudan. my guest is a general in his first interview with international tv since he took over the running of the country after the fall of a mile after 30 yea rs the country after the fall of a mile after 30 years in power. however, the protesters out on the streets are re— intensifying the demonstrations because they say the military is not handing over to a civilian led government. does make soon enough. is there a stand—off between the military and the protesters, and where does sudan go from here? welcome to hardtalk. general abdul fatah al burhan, welcome to hardtalk. the protests and sit—ins are being escalated and intensified. you've reached a stalemate, haven't you? but you have now warned the protesters against setting up road blocks. you are saying things can't continue like this because, as you say, security is a responsibility of the state. i give it to you, general, that it sounds like you are making a threat to the protesters. will you guarantee that you will not ask any of the armed forces to use force to remove these roadblocks? you can guarantee that absolutely? because protesters i've spoken to are quite concerned, some of them, that the situation could change. the forces of freedom and change who now represent the protesters, the sudanese professional association, which led the protests, and other political parties are now demanding an immediate handover in a matter of days to a civilian transitional government. will you do that in a matter of days? so you're waiting for a consensus from the protest movement? and then you would hand over power? and could that be a matter of days, weeks, months? because we have heard reports that you said you want the military council to lead the transitional government for two years. are you now saying that's not the case? but they don't want you to be here for 40 years. professor mohamed yousef, spokesperson officially for the sudanese professional association, has told me specifially that he wants the military council to step down and hand over power to a civilian—led presidential council with perhaps some representation of the military, in perhaps the defence post. is that acceptable to you? are you in control of the army, general burhan, because there are so many factions in the army led for so many years led by 0mar al—bashir? so do you control all the factions in the army? the forces for freedom and change say one of their key demands is they will not enter into any consensus transitional government with groups that participated in president bashir‘s regime. as things stand, there are those who are associated with the old regime who are on your military council. why? because there are real fears, you acknowledge, that the deep state is still in place even though president bashir has been removed from power. you acknowledge those fears? the deep state, the system he created. you've cut off the head but not the body. because one member of the sudanese professional association, taha 0sman, has told reporters here in khartoum, "the objectives of the revolution cannot be achieved totally a nd com pletely in the face of the backstage manipulations "by the remnants of the regime." those fears are justified. do you see yourself as a servant of the protesters, that you will do their bidding, that the military is subservient to the civilian protesters? one very clear demand that you get from the street protesters is that they have a complete rejection not only of omar al—bashir‘s former regime, but also of political islamism. they don't want islam in politics. can you guarantee that you will purge your army of those who still have sympathies for the islamists, in case they try to mount some kind of counter coup? so it's possible that the islamists could still be a major political player in sudan? how long do you envisage the transitional period taking? the sudanese professional association says four years of a transitional government. do you agree with that? and what composition of a transitional government do you envisage in those two years? who takes the lead? would you yourself seek a leadership role? because the idea is that there would be a residential council to replace the military council, which would be civilian—led, and there would be a government made up of a technocratic cabinet with a technocrat as prime minister. is that a vision that is acceptable to you? would you serve on the presidential council? do you have the power and authority to stop any other generals in the army from trying to assert themselves? if they say, "you're relinquishing too much power, general burhan." there is a view amongst some observers here, western diplomatic sources, who have said that perhaps you shouldn't have a hasty handover to civilian rule because there is instability in the sudan. you've got armed militias in darfur, in blue nile, in south kordofan. do you think that if there is a handover to civilian power, that stability be maintained in the sudan? you mentioned darfur, and i have to put it to you that your deputy in the military council, hemeti, who is the leader of the rapid support force here in sudan, is associated with the darfuris with the conflict there, that the force he leads now now is the successor of the arab militias, the janjaweeds, and this is creating a lot of discontent. but what about him specifically, hemeti, who is darfuri, and leads the rapid support forces, and is your number two? what about your role as well, today you general burhan, because you've had a very long career in the military. you've served in south sudan before secession there in 2011, and also in darfur. and i have to put it to you that one darfur leader, sheikh matar younis, in thejustice and equality movement, has described you as also being, as he put it, and i quote, "a bloody murder of the people of sudan in darfur since before 2014". what's your response to that? but do you feel, and i have to say of course you've not been named in any capacity by any international body, because of course we have had names sent by the international criminal court, president bashir, 0mar al—bashir, and ahmed haroun. you don't appear on any list like that. but can i ask you, can you fully defend your actions in darfur? in a statement via spokesman mutasim mohamed saleh, thejem, justice and equality movement, have made a demand that all the war—related detainees in darfur be released. and he says "not releasing them is a call for the continuation of the war and a further rupture of the country," sudan. have you released all detainees?

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