Sudan: A multi - sector strike and disruption of flights

Sudanese professional sectors entered a two-day general strike to press the military junta to hand over power to civilians. The strike included several sectors including air navigation, communications and land transport.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Sudanese pilots began a general strike in response to the call of freedom and change forces, which affected air traffic, while additional reinforcements of regular forces reached a number of vital facilities, including Khartoum International Airport, Al Jazeera correspondent.

This came in a statement issued by the gathering of Sudanese pilots published by the Sudanese Professionals Association, the main component of the forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change, leader of the popular movement, through its official Facebook page.

"In the early morning hours, we assure you that all Sudanese pilots in all airlines are fully committed to the declared strike that started at 12 midnight local time," the statement said.

He added that the strike continues until midnight on Wednesday for all domestic and international flights.

This comes as sources confirmed that the island of two airlines did not travel scheduled flights at dawn from the capital Khartoum, while the Sudanese Airways announced the continuation of its flights on time.

The director of the company, Yasser Timo, confirmed that the company did not cancel its flights, pointing out that the company's position on the strike indicates that it is due to personal estimates, and that the flights "Sufair" is on schedule.

Crashes and stops
Activists on social networking sites are filming images and videos showing overcrowding of dozens of passengers at Khartoum airport.

On Monday, Cairo announced the cancellation of two flights from its main airport to Khartoum due to events in Sudan.

In a context related to road transport, pictures taken by the island from the land port showed the suspension of the traffic of buses outside the capital Khartoum. Travelers traveling to the island said they had not found any flights since morning.

For its part, called the Central Sudan Doctors Committee, one of the components of the pool of professionals, the members to be committed to attend the sites of work with the practice of the profession only in cases of emergency.

In a parallel context, eyewitnesses reported that employees of the electronic banking company (government) joined the strike, and that "the suspension of the company led to the disruption of the work of ATMs."

Other witnesses said the services of Zain, one of the country's largest telecommunications companies, had stopped.

The Sudanese Congress Party said in an information bulletin that the ground operations and handling of the southern port in the eastern city of Port Sudan, "stopped completely."

Work at the land port (the largest public traffic stop to the city's cities in the capital) was suspended, and the employees of the Sudanese Telecommunications Company (SDP) staged a strike in response to the invitation, according to the opposition party.

Activists traded pictures of the strike in oil and mining fields in the east and south of the country.

The attackers staged stops outside their duty stations where they affirmed their stand alongside the forces of freedom and change and demanded that the transitional military council expedite the transfer of power to civilians and the return of the army to its barracks.

Strike and disobedience
Earlier, the leader of the forces of freedom and change, Jadhi Saleh, vowed to enter into a comprehensive strike and open civil disobedience in the absence of a final agreement with the military junta.

Saleh said during a press conference held by the forces of freedom and change Monday evening that the military council considers itself the guarantor of the revolution, while the guarantor is the Sudanese people and the law, pointing out that there is no problem between the forces of freedom and change and the military council or the people of this Council.

The deputy head of the military junta in Sudan, Mohammad Hamdan Daklu, nicknamed "Hamidati" had said earlier that no one has a popular base greater than the Council. He added that the forces of freedom and change to participate like the rest of the people, or else do what it wants, he said.

In the last few days, Khartoum and other cities have witnessed protests by employees of government institutions, public and private companies, banks, universities and professional sectors. The military council demanded that the authority be handed over to civilians.

Since April, thousands of Sudanese have rallied in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum to press the military junta to hand over power, amid fears that the army is shifting to demands for change, as in other countries, according to protesters.