The Sudanese police on Sunday fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters heading to the parliament in Omdurman, west of Khartoum, a day after a speech by President Omar al-Bashir.
Hundreds of protesters in Omdurman took part in the march, which was called for by Sudanese professionals and three opposition coalitions, to hand over a memorandum to the Sudanese parliament demanding that President Omar al-Bashir step down.
The group of Sudanese professionals (independent, including doctors, teachers, engineers and university professors) said on its official page: The convoy of martyrs of freedom in Omdurman.
Demonstrators chanting "Freedom of Peace and Justice" in some neighborhoods of Omdurman and in the suburb of Cavoury, in Khartoum city of Bahri, at a time when organizers of the protests called for new anti-government rallies.
The security authorities intervened to disperse the demonstrators using tear gas, and there was a spate of clashes between demonstrators and police in the side streets of the neighborhoods.
| Protesters demand regime down (Reuters) |
Protest and sit-in
Sudan's bloody protests have rocked since December 19 following the government's decision to raise bread prices, which have escalated since then, into widespread demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir's three-decade rule.
According to official figures, 26 people - including a security official - have been killed since the start of the protest movement, but Amnesty International indicated last week that the death toll amounted to more than forty.
The Union of Sudanese Professionals - leading the protest movement - called for new demonstrations on Sunday, and over several days next week.
And urged the demonstrators to go out on Sunday march towards the parliament building in Omdurman on the West Bank of the Nile.
This comes as the students of the Faculty of Renaissance University Private, in the extension of the third class (central Khartoum) sit in the campus of the college, refusing to start the study in light of the continuing demonstrations demanding the overthrow of the regime. The demonstrators shouted at the regime's departure and the security authorities intervened and dispersed them by force.
In the state of Kassala (eastern Sudan), doctors, pharmacists and medical staff, with the participation of citizens, held a stand in front of Kassala government hospital to protest the killing of protesters demanding the regime's departure.
They also condemned what he called the storming of health facilities by force. The sit-in continued for about an hour before the security authorities withdrew it.
Bashir stressed defense of Sudan and keeping its security (Reuters) |
The future of Sudan
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said in statements last night that young people are the future of Sudan, and that the state will achieve their just demands and solve their problems.
He added in statements - quoted by the Sudanese News Agency - that access to power in place of the ballot box, stressing the defense of Sudan and maintain security and unity, stability and territorial integrity.
Bashir expressed his full respect for Sudanese youth, who said he had demonstrated in search of better conditions and economic demands.
He added that their exit from this path is justified, referring to what he described as the exploitation of some political parties and enemies of the homeland of the saboteurs these youth demonstrations.