Khartoum: Ethiopia’s prime minister sought to mediate Sudan’s political crisis on Friday, urging military rulers and civilian opposition to exercise “bravery” in resolving their standoff since the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.

After flying in from Addis Ababa, Abiy Ahmad, the Ethiopian prime minister, held separate talks with both sides, days after the worst bloodshed since the military ousted Bashir in April to end his three-decade rule.

The opposition, which is demanding civilian government, says 113 people were killed in the storming of a protest camp on Monday and subsequent crackdown. The government put the toll at 61 people, including three security personnel.

After holding talks with Abiy, one member of the opposition’s delegation, Mohammad Esmat, was arrested by security forces, sources from his party said. The military council could not immediately be reached for comment.

The young Ethiopian reformist premier first went into a meeting with General Abdul Fattah Al Burhan, the head of the ruling military council.

Abiy made his visit the day after the Ethiopian-headquartered African Union bloc suspended Sudan, backing the opposition’s demand for civilian rule.

Abiy was welcomed by Lieutenant General Shams El Din Kabbashi, spokesman for the Transitional Military Council (TMC).

He later hosted a meeting with the opposition Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) alliance.

He later hosted a meeting with the opposition Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) alliance.

“The military and the people and the political forces need to act with bravery and responsibility in taking quick steps to a democratic, reconciliatory transitional period in the country,” he said in a statement.

An adviser to Abiy said the talks went well and that the prime minister would be returning to Sudan soon, but there was no word of a breakthrough or further details.

The military council and opposition had been in talks for weeks over who should lead Sudan’s transition to democracy. But negotiations collapsed after Monday’s violence, with the opposition saying it could not talk to untrustworthy rulers.

UAE seeks probe

The UAE is concerned about the “massacre” in Sudan and supports calls for an investigation, Dr Anwar Gargash, the UAE

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said on Friday.

“We are concerned about the massacre we’ve seen. We support calls for proper investigation,” Gargash said at the Globsec security and policy conference in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Slovakia.

“We think it has complicated issues. We recognise that after 30 years of Bashir’s rule you won’t have a unified opposition, the only way forward is really a dialogue,” he said.