Tear gas fired at anti-coup rally
KHARTOUM: Sudanese forces fired tear gas on Tuesday at anti-coup protesters demanding civilian rule days after the prime minister resigned, as the US and EU warned the military against naming their own successor.
Shouting “No, no to military rule”, protesters called for the disbandment of Sudan’s ruling council headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led an Oct 25 coup, detaining the then Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and derailing a transition to a full civilian government.
Streets leading to the presidential palace and army headquarters in the capital Khartoum were sealed off by hefty deployments of troops, riot police and paramilitary units, witnesses said.
Mr Burhan had dismissed both Mr Hamdok and the government in the October coup, dismantling a precarious power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilians that had been established in the wake of the April 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar-al-Bashir.
The military chief reinstated Mr Hamdok on Nov 21, a deal the prime minister accepted partly on the promise of elections in mid-2023 — but the protest movement slammed the deal as a “betrayal” and kept up its rallies.
Mr Hamdok then resigned on Sunday — six weeks after he was reappointed by Mr Burhan — saying the country was at a “dangerous crossroads threatening its very survival”.
On Tuesday, the United States, European Union, Britain and Norway warned the military against naming their own successor to Mr Hamdok.
The four Western powers said that they still believed in the democratic transition of Sudan, but issued a veiled warning to the military if it does not move forward.
“In the absence of progress, we would look to accelerate efforts to hold those actors impeding the democratic process accountable,” the statement read.
“Unilateral action to appoint a new prime minister and cabinet would undermine those institutions’ credibility and risks plunging the nation into conflict,” it added.
The coup — one of several in Sudan’s post-independence history — has triggered mass demonstrations and a bloody crackdown that has left at least 57 people dead and hundreds wounded, according to the independent Doctors’ Committee.
On Tuesday, security forces fired tear gas near the palace, as well as at rallies in suburbs north of Khartoum and in the eastern city of Port Sudan.
Protesters also gathered in Khartoum’s twin city Omdurman and the South Darfur state capital Nyala taking the total on the streets across the country into the thousands.