Sudan military ruler says elections will be held after nine months to resolve a power crisis
Abdel Fatah Al Burhan says the crisis can only be resolved through the ballot.
He blames the protest movement Change and Freedom Alliance for collapse of talks to usher in civilian rule.
He has committed to a transparent investigation into the Monday attack on protesters that least 30 dead.
Sudan military ruler Abdel Fatah Al Burhan has said the country will go for elections within nine months in order to resolve a power crisis that has beset the country since protesters forced the ouster of Omar al Bashir in April.
Al Burhan, the head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), said in a TV address early Tuesday that he had concluded after the collapse of negotiations with the Change and Freedom Alliance that the country "will only be ruled through election boxes."
He blamed the alliance for the collapse of the talks that were intended to hand over power to civil authority.
"I decided to go for free and fair elections after nine months as we vowed that the country will only be ruled through the elections boxes," Al Burhan said in a TV speech.
That would make February 2020 the latest the elections can be held. The AU had in May given the junta 60 days - up to the end of June - to hand over power to civilians.
The Alliance led protests against the draconian rule of Bashir since December.
After he was overthrown the protests continued this time against the military junta which appeared reluctant to hand over power to a civilian administration.
On Monday, the alliance pulled out of the talks after an attack on protesters at the sit-in outside military headquarters left at least 30 dead and hundreds of others wounded.
In the early morning address, Al-Burhan committed to a transparent investigation regarding the attack on the protesters on Monday.