Sudanese Islamists cancel pro-military rally fearing protester violence

Islamists in Sudan formerly allied with ousted president Omar al-Bashir on Monday cancelled a planned pro-military rally, after receiving assurances from the country's ruling military politics that Islamic law would remain in Sudan.

Islamists led by ultraconservative preacher Abdel-Hay Youssef announced the rally on Friday to support the military and call for it to protect the role of Islam in Sudanese politics.

Protests against Bashir began in mid-December.

When the military overthrew Bashir earlier this month, protesters moved on to demanding their next goal - the establishment of a civilian-led transitional government and, ultimately, a democratic civil state.

Protesters have continuously called for an end to Sudan's "Islamist regime".

In his Friday sermon, Youssef attacked the protesters last week, accusing them of trying to "dictate their own will on the people".

"Did you take to the streets to impose laws that contradict people's identity and to divorce God's Shariah (Islamic law) from the government?" he asked, according to Press Association, calling on the military to protect Islamic law in Sudan.

Youssef announced in a video posted on Facebook that Monday’s rally had been cancelled out of fears of violence from protesters.

A protest against a meeting by the Islamist Popular Congress Party (PCP) reportedly turned violent on Saturday.

But Youssef added that the decision to cancel the rally came after a meeting with the deputy head of Sudan's governing transitional military council General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, widely known as Hemedti.

Hemedti, he said, had given Islamists assurances that "Islamic laws will not be abolished" in Sudan.

Islamists played a major rule in the 1989 military coup that brought Bashir to power.

The influence of Islamist figures, particularly Hassan al-Turabi, reshaped Sudan's legal system, introducing measures such as Sudan's religious police who have the power to arrest and sentence women to be lashed for "indecent dress", among other crimes.

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