Thousands of supporters of Sudan’s former ruling party demonstrated in the capital Khartoum on Saturday against foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs.

Supporters of the National Congress Party (NCP) of ousted President Omar al-Bashir waved banners demanding the expulsion of Volker Perthes, head of the United Nations’ Integrated Transition Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

“We are protesting against conspiracies that target Islamists in Sudan,” Ismail Mahmoud, 56, told Anadolu Agency. “Sudan will never be ruled by secular laws as long as we are alive,” he said.

“We are also demonstrating to maintain Sudan’s national sovereignty against foreign interference and the new colonialism represented by UNITAMS envoy Volker Perthes” Mahmoud added.

Sudan’s ruling military and the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition have been undergoing talks under the auspices of UNITAMS to reach an agreement to resolve the country’s months-long political crisis.

The QUAD mechanism, which includes the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is also pressuring Sudan’s rivals to reach a political deal to bring the country back to transition.

Sudan has been in turmoil since last year when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government, a move decried by political forces as a “military coup.”

At least 100 people have since been killed in protests against the military since October, according to Sudanese medics.