Omar al-Bashir, long-term President of Sudan, was toppled from power by the military on Thursday and placed under “heavy guard”, following months of protests against the government and its handling of a severe economic crisis in the country. Bashir, 75, who had ruled Sudan since 1989, is reportedly being held at the presidential palace, sources told Reuters. Sudan’s Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said that there would be a two-year transition period of military rule and a council governing the country. Presidential elections will be held after the transition period expires. Sudan, a relatively small African oil producer, has been plagued by economic hardships since South Sudan seceded in 2011. South Sudan broke from Sudan in 2011 and took with it around 350,000 bpd in oil production. After South Sudan’s secession from Sudan, the two countries have been mutually dependent on oil revenues, because the south has […]