KHARTOUM —Sudanese protest and opposition leaders called on Wednesday for civil disobedience in response to what they described as the military's "disappointing" response to their constitutional proposals.

"We call for and prepare for civil disobedience," Madani Abbas Madani, a leader of the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF), told a news conference in Khartoum.

Protest leaders on Wednesday accused Sudan's military rulers of delaying the transfer of power to a civilian administration, amid disagreements over the country's new governance structure after president Omar Al-Bahir's ouster.

The two sides are grappling over whether an overall ruling council should have a civilian or military majority.

Last week the Alliance for Freedom and Change protest group handed over its proposals for a civilian structure, including executive and legislative bodies, that it eventually wants to rule the country after replacing the generals.

The 10-member military council late on Tuesday said it agreed to the overall proposals, but had "many reservations".

The protest leaders said on Wednesday that the military council was delaying the entire transfer of power.

"The military council's response... is moving in the direction of extending the negotiations and not in the direction of a transition" of power, the alliance said in a statement.

The protest movement said the military council was looking to "prolong the negotiations" after the generals took over following the toppling of Bashir on April 11.

The military council said the alliance had remained silent on ensuring that Islamic sharia remains the bedrock of Sudanese legislation.

The protest leaders say the generals had "raised irrelevant issues including the language and sources of legislation in a tedious repetition of the biddings of the former regime".

"We call on the military council to reach an agreement to transfer power," they said.

The Alliance for Freedom and Change is made up of several political groups, leaders and activists, many of them of the view of building a new secular Sudan. — Agencies