After a 30-year rule Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, has been ousted from power by the military. The move is the culmination of months of protests, which led to activists occupying a crossroads in the centre of Khartoum for five days. However, thousands of people continued to pack the streets on Thursday afternoon, as protest organisers rejected the army’s announcement that Bashir would be replaced by a military-led transitional council
Continue reading...Category Archives: Omar al-Bashir
Sudan’s defence minister announces state of emergency after arrest of President Bashir – video
On Thursday Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan in autocratic style for 30 years, was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the armed forces, said Sudan's defence minister, Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, in a televised address. He also announced a two-year period of military rule to be followed by presidential elections.
Continue reading...Sudan’s army removes President Bashir after 30 years in power
President arrested after months of protests that escalated with mass sit-in on Saturday
Sudan’s army has removed President Omar al-Bashir from power after 30 years, following months of protests that escalated at the weekend when demonstrators began a sit-in outside the defence ministry compound in central Khartoum.
Bashir had been arrested “in a safe place”, the Sudanese defence minster and army general Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf said in a statement broadcast on state media. A military council will take control of the country for two years, after which elections would be held, Ibn Auf added.
Continue reading...Sudan protesters celebrate end of Bashir’s rule – in pictures
Crowds took to the streets in Kashmir on Thursday, as the army said it had removed President Omar al-Bashir from power after 30 years in charge. We take a look at the best images from the capital, Khartoum
Continue reading...‘I was raised to love our home’: Sudan’s singing protester speaks out
Alaa Salah, 22, talks to the Guardian about having her image seen around the world
The young woman in a photo that has come to symbolise the protest movement in Sudan has been identified as Alaa Salah, a 22-year-old architecture student in Khartoum.
Salah told the Guardian she was happy that the image, taken on Monday evening at a demonstration in the Sudanese capital, had been viewed so widely.
Continue reading...The women leading the calls for revolution in Sudan – video
As a wave of protests continues against President Omar al-Bashir's 30-year rule, viral images reveal women spearheading the demonstrations, despite the dangers of speaking out against this oppressive regime. Price rises and food shortages first sparked unrest in December 2018, but the biggest demonstrations so far have taken place in recent days, shaking authorities in Khartoum
Continue reading...Sudan: gunfire heard at peaceful protest in Khartoum – video
Sudanese security forces have used teargas in an attempt to disperse protesters in central Khartoum. The demonstrators have been camped for more than two days as they call for the president, Omar al-Bashir, to resign. Protests began in December 2018 after the government raised bread prices, but they have since evolved into nationwide unrest against Bashir's rule.
Continue reading...Britain’s flawed dialogue with Sudan regime | Letters
We wholeheartedly agree with your editorial (7 March) stating that the demonstrators in Sudan calling daily for freedom and the rule of law “do not want a different version of this regime, or more conflict”. The problem is indeed the regime, not just a president indicted for genocide by the international criminal court and for whom, despite their public claims to support the ICC, many external actors seek a “soft landing” in the name of stability. Sudan is not stable for the Sudanese people.
Nevertheless, Britain has engaged in a flawed strategic dialogue with the regime. It has spearheaded the Khartoum process, a supposed partnership with the brutal and corrupt Sudanese regime to “manage” (in other words, to stem) migration to Europe. That process relies on the notorious rapid support forces, mainly former Janjaweed, which the ICC has implicated in war crimes in Darfur. Most Sudanese migrants are in any case refugees fleeing their repressive regime, including the very forces now tasked with capturing them.
Continue reading...The Guardian view on Sudan’s protests: demanding and deserving better | Editorial
Many of the Sudanese protesters demanding an end to Omar al-Bashir’s regime have known no other rule. They were not yet born when he seized power in a coup three decades ago – their country’s median age is just below 20. But they are certain they want something better.
The ruthless Sudanese president is now facing a sustained and unprecedented challenge. The killings of more than 50 peaceful protesters, the beating and arrests of hundreds more and the declaration of a state of emergency last month have, if anything, spurred on demonstrators. The protests were triggered in December by a subsidy cut which sent bread prices soaring, but fuelled by anger going far beyond the country’s dire economic straits to corruption, government sclerosis and brutality.
Continue reading...Omar al-Bashir launches media crackdown as Sudan protests continue
Five journalists held at undisclosed locations and dozens more arrested and released, with media blackout expected to worsen
The government of Omar al-Bashir in Sudan has launched an “alarming” crackdown on journalists covering weeks of protests against the regime.
At least five reporters have been detained by the national intelligence security services and are being held at undisclosed locations. Dozens of others have been arrested and held before being released.
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