At least 27 people have been killed
in protests in Khartoum over fuel subsidy cuts,
a medical source said on Thursday. It is described by witnesses as the worst unrest
seen in Sudan’s relatively well-off central
regions for years. The witnesses also said the unrest is spreading
to its biggest port. Police fired tear gas volleys to quell a small but
strident protest in Port Sudan on the Red Sea
coast, where participants chanted, “Down,
down with the regime”, according to witnesses. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who came to
power in a 1989 coup, has been spared the sort
of Arab Spring uprising that unseated
autocratic rulers in states from Tunisia to
Yemen since 2011, but anger has risen over
rising inflation and corruption. A UN official told Reuters that Bashir, who also
faces an arrest warrant issued by the
International Criminal Court, would not be going
to New York for the ongoing meeting of the UN
General Assembly. Sudan’s foreign ministry denied that Bashir had
decided not to attend at a time of instability at
home, saying his request for a visa was still
pending at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. Relatives and medics said at least six people
were killed in Wednesday’s street protests. But
a medical source at a hospital in Khartoum’s
Omdurman neighbourhood, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, told Reuters: “There
were 27 people killed in the protests and their
bodies are at the Omdurman hospital.” Thousands had marched in Khartoum on
Wednesday, torching cars, buildings and petrol
stations. There was no sign of new unrest in the capital
on Thursday but tension reigned amid tight
security. Security forces patrolled the streets in pickup
trucks mounted with machine guns. with many
shops and petrol stations closed. The Arab-African country has suffered armed
insurgencies in poor peripheral regions such as
Darfur for decades, but the more prosperous
central areas along the Nile including
Khartoum, have generally been relatively
immune to unrest. Similar protests broke out in June last year
after some fuel subsidies were cut, but they
fizzled after a security crackdown. This round of unrest started on Monday after
the government announced another set of fuel
subsidy cutbacks, causing pump prices to
almost double overnight. The cuts have been driven by a severe financial
crunch since the secession of oil-producing
South Sudan in 2011, which deprived Khartoum
of three-quarters of the crude output it relied
on for state revenue and foreign currency used
to import food. Bashir, announcing the cuts on Sunday, said the
existing subsidy system posed a danger to the
entire Sudanese economy. Only about five newspapers reached kiosks on
Thursday, carrying mainly statements from
First Vice President, Ali Osman Taha,
denouncing the destruction of public and
private property during the protests. Editors at three newspapers said they had
either been prevented from publishing by
security agents or had decided not to publish
to protest at State attempts to steer coverage. Journalists said security agents had ordered
editors at a meeting on Wednesday to publish
only the official version describing the protests
as “sabotage” and criminals. Still, independent
daily al-Ahram published pictures of burnt cars
and buildings. There was business as usual on State’s
Television, showing soccer matches, musical
performances or movies, and a police
statement denouncing the violence was read
out. The state-linked Sudanese Media Centre said
schools in Khartoum state would be shut until
Sept. 30. Students have been at the forefront
of previous rounds of anti-government
protests. Sudan’s Internet service was back up on
Thursday a day after being cut when activists
started circulating pictures from protests via
social media. A private sector telecoms official told Reuters
the government had blocked the Internet
without consulting telecom firms but the
Sudanese embassy in Washington blamed it on
what it described as damage of some telecom
facilities by protesters. Bashir has remained in power for almost 25
years in spite of armed rebellions, U.S. trade
sanctions, an economic crisis, an attempted
coup last year and the warrant for his arrest
issued by the ICC. Washington has led calls for Bashir to face
international justice over bloodshed in the now
decade-old conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. The U.S. ambassador to the UN had previously
called Bashir’s intention to travel to New York
“deplorable”. (Reuters /NAN)
in protests in Khartoum over fuel subsidy cuts,
a medical source said on Thursday. It is described by witnesses as the worst unrest
seen in Sudan’s relatively well-off central
regions for years. The witnesses also said the unrest is spreading
to its biggest port. Police fired tear gas volleys to quell a small but
strident protest in Port Sudan on the Red Sea
coast, where participants chanted, “Down,
down with the regime”, according to witnesses. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who came to
power in a 1989 coup, has been spared the sort
of Arab Spring uprising that unseated
autocratic rulers in states from Tunisia to
Yemen since 2011, but anger has risen over
rising inflation and corruption. A UN official told Reuters that Bashir, who also
faces an arrest warrant issued by the
International Criminal Court, would not be going
to New York for the ongoing meeting of the UN
General Assembly. Sudan’s foreign ministry denied that Bashir had
decided not to attend at a time of instability at
home, saying his request for a visa was still
pending at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. Relatives and medics said at least six people
were killed in Wednesday’s street protests. But
a medical source at a hospital in Khartoum’s
Omdurman neighbourhood, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, told Reuters: “There
were 27 people killed in the protests and their
bodies are at the Omdurman hospital.” Thousands had marched in Khartoum on
Wednesday, torching cars, buildings and petrol
stations. There was no sign of new unrest in the capital
on Thursday but tension reigned amid tight
security. Security forces patrolled the streets in pickup
trucks mounted with machine guns. with many
shops and petrol stations closed. The Arab-African country has suffered armed
insurgencies in poor peripheral regions such as
Darfur for decades, but the more prosperous
central areas along the Nile including
Khartoum, have generally been relatively
immune to unrest. Similar protests broke out in June last year
after some fuel subsidies were cut, but they
fizzled after a security crackdown. This round of unrest started on Monday after
the government announced another set of fuel
subsidy cutbacks, causing pump prices to
almost double overnight. The cuts have been driven by a severe financial
crunch since the secession of oil-producing
South Sudan in 2011, which deprived Khartoum
of three-quarters of the crude output it relied
on for state revenue and foreign currency used
to import food. Bashir, announcing the cuts on Sunday, said the
existing subsidy system posed a danger to the
entire Sudanese economy. Only about five newspapers reached kiosks on
Thursday, carrying mainly statements from
First Vice President, Ali Osman Taha,
denouncing the destruction of public and
private property during the protests. Editors at three newspapers said they had
either been prevented from publishing by
security agents or had decided not to publish
to protest at State attempts to steer coverage. Journalists said security agents had ordered
editors at a meeting on Wednesday to publish
only the official version describing the protests
as “sabotage” and criminals. Still, independent
daily al-Ahram published pictures of burnt cars
and buildings. There was business as usual on State’s
Television, showing soccer matches, musical
performances or movies, and a police
statement denouncing the violence was read
out. The state-linked Sudanese Media Centre said
schools in Khartoum state would be shut until
Sept. 30. Students have been at the forefront
of previous rounds of anti-government
protests. Sudan’s Internet service was back up on
Thursday a day after being cut when activists
started circulating pictures from protests via
social media. A private sector telecoms official told Reuters
the government had blocked the Internet
without consulting telecom firms but the
Sudanese embassy in Washington blamed it on
what it described as damage of some telecom
facilities by protesters. Bashir has remained in power for almost 25
years in spite of armed rebellions, U.S. trade
sanctions, an economic crisis, an attempted
coup last year and the warrant for his arrest
issued by the ICC. Washington has led calls for Bashir to face
international justice over bloodshed in the now
decade-old conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. The U.S. ambassador to the UN had previously
called Bashir’s intention to travel to New York
“deplorable”. (Reuters /NAN)
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