UPDATE 3-Sudan negotiators are hopeful of deal on new transitional council

Sudan's opposition alliance and the ruling military council said after talks on Saturday that they expected to agree on the formation of a new body to lead the country's transition from 30 years of autocratic rule by Omar al-Bashir. Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) ousted and arrested former President Bashir on April 11 following months of anti-government protests, saying it would rule for up to two years ahead of elections.

Anti-Bashir opposition groups and protesters who have kept up a sit-in outside the Defence Ministry want a civilian-led transitional council with military representation. They continued their thousands-strong demonstration on Saturday evening.

"I came to support the sit-in for a civilian government because the army ruled Sudan since 52 years and the result is nothing," said Nour el-Dayem Gaafar, a 23-year-old student from South Darfur state who had travelled by bus to the capital. Under an umbrella group called the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces, the opposition and activists met the TMC on Saturday in a first joint session to try to resolve their standoff.

"Today we have taken positive steps and we expect to reach an agreement satisfactory to all parties," said Ayman Nimir, an opposition negotiator. "We expect to receive a response from the military council regarding the formation of a sovereign council within hours." A TMC spokesman, Shams El Din Kabbashi, also said the talks had gone well.

"God willing the talks will continue this evening and we are very optimistic that we can reach a final result and announce it to the Sudanese people," he said. 'HALF A REVOLUTION'

The TMC has arrested some former officials, announced anti-corruption measures and promised to give executive authority to a civilian government. But it has signalled that ultimate authority would remain in its hands, leaving protesters frustrated. "Half a revolution is the perishing of a nation," said Osman Abadi, a 26-year-old sit-in security supervisor draped in a Sudanese flag, who said he was staying even if negotiations between TMC and the opposition failed.

Bashir was overthrown after 16 weeks of protests triggered by a deepening economic crisis. He is being held along with other former officials at Khartoum's Kobar prison. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicted Bashir for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the western Sudanese region of Darfur charges he denies.

On Saturday Sadiq al-Mahdi, the veteran leader of Sudan's opposition Umma Party, which is part of the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces, said he thought Sudan should join the court. "Now I have no objection to responding to its demands, and it's necessary immediately to join (the ICC), but this position has to be coordinated with the military council," Mahdi told reporters.

The military council has previously suggested that Bashir would be tried in Sudan, where the public prosecutor has begun investigating him, according to a judicial source. Separately, the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces condemned a reported raid on a meeting of the Popular Congress Party, which was allied to Bashir before turning against him.

Though it said the party bore responsibility for what had happened over the past 30 years, there was "no place for the exclusion of rights by force in the nation that our fearless revolutionaries are working to promote", the alliance said in a statement. State TV reported that more than 140 people were evacuated from the hall where the meeting took place and more than 60 had suffered minor injuries.