KHARTOUM, Sudan

The deputy leader of Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, on Saturday reiterated the army's commitment to hand over power to an elected government.

"We are committed to handing over power to patriots after the national accord that leads to elections,” Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, told a rally in the city of Port Sudan and cited by a statement issued by the Sovereign Council.

“We will return to the barracks after the arrival of an elected government through the ballot boxes," he added.

Hemedti vowed not to hand over power to those he described as being on “payroll from the embassies.”

Meanwhile, Hemedti slammed some politicians he did not name for deluding the youth that the authorities plan to sell the country's ports on the Red Sea.

"We say to these people that we are not agents to sell the resources of the Sudanese people,” he added.

Hemedti's statement came in response to claims raised by political activists on social media that the military authorities in Khartoum plan to conclude a deal to sell ports on the Red Sea to Russia.

Sudan has been in turmoil since Oct. 25, 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency, in a move decried by political groups as a “military coup.”

Prior to the military takeover, Sudan was governed by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials tasked with overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara