UPDATE 1-Sudanese protest coalition calls for civil disobedience

Sudanese protest and opposition leaders called on Wednesday for civil disobedience in response to the military's "disappointing" answer to their interim constitutional proposals.

The Transitional Military Council (TMC) said it broadly agreed with the draft but that it neglected some important issues such as a reference to Islamic sharia as a source for legislation. But the opposition groups' umbrella body, the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF), said sharia was not a matter for the interim constitution, and that the TMC response would in effect give the military control of a proposed interim government.

"We call for and prepare for civil disobedience," Madani Abbas Madani, a DFCF leader, told a news conference in Khartoum. Thousands of protesters have been camping outside the Defence Ministry in central Khartoum and, having secured a military overthrow of president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, are now demanding that the TMC hand over power to civilians.

The TMC has said it is willing to agree to a government of technocrats, but wants to retain overall control, pending elections, to prevent Sudan sliding into chaos. Khalid Omar Yousef, another protest leader, said the aim was not to start a confrontation with the military but to speed up efforts to resolve the impasse. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum and Ali Abdelaty in Cairo and Nadine Awadalla in Khartoum; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Kevin Liffey)