Sudanese army officials and protest leaders yesterday agreed on a three-year transition period for transferring power to a full civilian administration, even as negotiations over a new sovereign ruling body remain unfinished.

The protest movement is demanding a civilian-led transition following 30 years of iron-fisted rule by now-deposed president Omar al-Bashir, but the generals who toppled him have been holding onto a leadership role. Talks between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and opposition Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) 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 Wednesday morning after nearly 12 hours of negotiations that they had reached an agreement on the transition period.

The protesters, who want to keep the pressure on the military for a swift handover, were back on Tuesday, blocking roads and bridges with bricks and rocks, images on social media showed. Demonstrators have been camped at a sit-in outside the Defense Ministry since April 6. On Tuesday, the sit-in area and eastern Khartoum were blocked off from the capital's center by barriers that the protesters have erected.