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Sudan president Omar al-Bashir has announced a reduction of the maximum jail term for disobeying the state of emergency in the country from 10 years to six months.

Even as the president made the announcement, protesters gathered in the town of Al-Obeid and in parts of Khartoum and Omdurman demanding his immediate resignation.

Witnesses reported that riot police confronted the protesters in Al-Obeid and used tear gas to disperse them.

President Bashir, in another order, appointed the acting chief of the ruling National Congress Party, Ahmed Harun, as a presidential aide. Harun, like Bashir, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.