Sudan’s protesters have toned down some of their demands in an attempt to ease tensions with the ruling military council that took over the country after president Omar al-Bashir’s ouster last month. The protesters, who had rallied for over four months against al-Bashirs 30-year rule, are demanding the military hand over power to civilians. They have been holding a sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum and have also been negotiating with the council on the makeup of a transitional sovereign council for an interim period. Both sides insist they should have the majority of seats in the transitional council. The Forces of the Declaration for Freedom and Change, a coalition led by the Sudanese Professionals Association, released a new proposal Thursday that altogether drops the issue of seat allocations. Protest leader Satea al-Haj told reporters that the transitional civilian government should be of 17 ministers, while the legislative body should include 120 to 150 members. He said the alliance was expecting a response from the military council in "48 to 72 hours".