Sudan suspended after fatal strikes

SUDAN has been suspended from all AU activities following a violent crackdown on protesters in the country earlier this week, the organisation’s Peace and Security Council said yesterday.

Sudan will be excluded from “all AU activities until the effective establishment of a civilian-led transitional authority, as the only way to allow… Sudan to exit from the current crisis”, the council said on Twitter.

The decision comes after Sudanese security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters during a mass sit-in in the capital Khartoum on Monday.

Sudan’s Health Ministry denied reports that security forces killed about 100 protesters during the crackdown, telling journalists 61 people died.

Medical association the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said about 100 people had been killed, including 40 whose bodies were recovered from the River Nile. More than 300 people were injured.

There is mounting international pressure to resolve the crisis. Sudanese opposition groups on Wednesday rejected talks with the Transitional Military Council, which offered to reopen power-sharing negotiations.