Sudan's military rulers, protesters agree on three-year power transition period

Sudanese army rulers and protest leaders Wednesday said they are making progress in negotiations for transferring power to a full civilian administration and have agreed on the length of the country's transition period.

Sudan's ruling generals and the protesters who drove President Omar al-Bashir from power last month say they're making progress in negotiations and have agreed on the length of the country's transition period. The two sides, which have been at odds over the transfer of power to civilian rule, say the transition will last three years.

Talks between the two sides resumed earlier in the week but were marred by violence when an army major and five protesters were killed by unidentified gunmen at a long-running sit-in outside military headquarters in Khartoum. The two sides announced early Wednesday that they had reached an agreement on the transition period.

Lt. Gen. Yasser al-Atta, a member of the military council, and Madani Abbas, a negotiator for the protesters, said on Wednesday they also agreed on the makeup of a 300-member, all-civilian transitional legislative body. Al-Atta says the next issue is the makeup of a sovereign council; he hopes they will strike a deal within 24 hours. The military took over after ousting al-Bashir, but the protesters stayed on the streets, demanding the handover of power.