Omar al-Bashir
KHARTOUM: Sudanese anti-government protesters plan to make a new attempt to march on the presidential palace as they step up pressure on President Omar al-Bashir to resign with nationwide rallies.
The east African nation has been rocked by more than a month of deadly protests triggered by the Bashir government’s decision to triple the price of bread.
Protesters chanting the movement’s catchcry of ‘Freedom, peace, justice’ have been confronted by a crackdown that has drawn international condemnation, including from the United States which has warned Sudan it could damage moves to improve their ties.
The mushrooming demonstrations are widely seen as the biggest threat to Bashir’s iron-fisted rule since he took power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989.
Officials say 26 people have died in the violence, but human rights groups have put the death toll at 40. The Sudanese Professionals’ Association that is spearheading the protest campaign has upped the ante with a call for nationwide rallies.
“We are calling our people to gather at 17 places in Khartoum and Omdurman and march towards the presidential palace,” the association said in a statement.
File photo shows Sudanese demonstrators burning tyres as they participate in anti-government protests in Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan. — Reuters photo
Protesters have staged daily demonstrations in Khartoum and the capital’s twin city of Omdurman, on the west bank of the Nile River.
“The people of other towns and cities will also hold their own marches,” said the SPA, an umbrella group of unions representing doctors, teachers and engineers.
Several previous attempts to march on the presidential palace have been broken up by riot police firing tear gas. — AFP