Thousands of Sudan anti-Bashir protesters defy tear gas
KHARTOUM: Thousands of defiant Sudanese protesters remained camped outside army headquarters for a fourth day Tuesday, buoyed by the abandonment of a pre-dawn attempt to disperse them after soldiers intervened, witnesses said.
Chanting ‘freedom, freedom,’ crowds of men and women, who had spent the night camped outside sprawling the Khartoum complex that also houses the president’s residence, urged top brass to back them in ending Omar al-Bashir’s three decades of ironfisted tule.
It is the largest rally since protests erupted following a threefold increase in bread prices in December, before mushrooming into nationwide demonstrations demanding that Bashir and his government step down.
Members of the National Intelligence and Security Service and riot police fired tear gas at the protesters on Tuesday in an abortive bid to disperse their sitin, protest movement organisers said.
“There was heavy firing of tear gas after which army soldiers opened the gates of the compound for protesters to enter,” a witness told AFP.
“A few minutes later a group of soldiers fired gunshots in the air to push back the security forces who were firing tear gas.”
A second witness too said soldiers had intervened against the security force agents.
Since the protests erupted in December, the armed forces have remained on the sidelines even as security agents and riot police have cracked down.
Demonstrators have called on the army to protect them from the deadly crackdown, during their four days camped outside its headquarters.
An AFP correspondent, some five kilometres away, heard shooting for about four minutes. Later a group of soldiers returned to the complex with a body in their pick-up truck, witnesses said.
“What is the price of martyrs?” shouted the demonstrators as the vehicle entered.
It was not immediately clear whose body it was.
Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf vowed that the army would prevent any slide into chaos.
“Sudan’s armed forces understand the reasons for the demonstrations and is not against the demands and aspirations of the citizens, but it will not allow the country to fall into chaos,” Ibnouf said according to the official SUNA news agency.
In a separate statement, army chief of staff Kamal Abdelmarouf said the military was “discharging its responsibility in securing and protecting citizens.”
Officials say 38 people have died in protest-related violence.
Interior Minister Bushara Juma said seven protesters died and 15 were wounded on Saturday when forces tried to disperse them.
He said 42 security personnel were injured and 2,496 arrests made.
The umbrella group spearheading the protests appealed to the army on Monday for talks on forming a transitional government.
“We call on the Sudanese armed forces to talk directly with the Alliance for Freedom and Change for facilitating the peaceful process of forming a transitional government,” said Omar el-Digeir, a senior member of the group.
Digeir said the protest organisers had formed a council to open talks aimed at agreeing a “transitional government that represents the wish of the revolution”.
Reading from a statement, he also called on the armed forces “to withdraw their support for a regime that has lost its legitimacy” and to support the “people’s alternative for a transition to a civilian democratic government”. — AFP