Prosecutor general fired in latest concession by transitional council
Military rulers in Sudan have sacked a further slew of senior officials after pressure from protesters.
The move is the latest concession by the army-led transitional council, which took power last week following the fall of Omar al-Bashir after 30 years in power, and has since faced fierce pressure to rapidly give way to a civilian government.
Continue reading...Demonstrators say they formed a ring around sit-in zone to stop troops clearing the area
Sudanese protesters have moved to block an apparent attempt to break up their sit-in outside the defence ministry in Khartoum, where demonstrators have been pushing for a quick transition to civilian rule after Omar al-Bashir was ousted as president, a witness has said.
Protesters said they had joined hands and formed a ring around the sit-in area after troops had gathered on three sides and tractors were preparing to remove stone and metal barricades.
Continue reading...Pete Townshend may not appear, at first glance, to be connected to the tumultuous events in Sudan. But it was the Who’s lead guitarist who famously celebrated popular insurrection in the 1971 hit, Won’t Get Fooled Again, whose lyrics he wrote. Here’s how a bit of it goes: “I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution/ Take a bow for the new revolution... Then I’ll get on my knees and pray/ We don’t get fooled again.”
After inducing the army to oust Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s unpopular president, well-organised opponents of the military regime, evidently no fools, are not trusting solely to prayer. On Friday, they forced the resignation of the coup leader, Awad Ibn Auf. Now they wait, camped on the streets, to see if his replacement – another general, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – can satisfy their insistence on civilian-led government.
Continue reading...Salih Ghosh, who led protests crackdown, resigns a day after interim leader stepped down
The protest movement in Sudan has won a series of fresh victories, with the country’s powerful military moving to replace the controversial transitional leader and spy chief following street rallies demanding officials linked to the former regime stand down.
Salih Ghosh, who led a sweeping crackdown against demonstrators over recent months, resigned on Saturday, a communique from the new military-led transitional council said.
Continue reading...Public defiance crosses religious divides as protesters in Khartoum sustain united call for military to relinquish power
In front of the military headquarters in Khartoum, where protesters have refused to leave following the ousting of president Omar al-Bashir, came an extraordinary show of support.
In stifling heat, a group of Coptic Christians – a minority and persecuted group in Sudan – set up shelters to allow their fellow Muslim protesters to pray away from the glare of the Friday morning sun, and without leaving the spot they’ve occupied since Saturday.
Continue reading...New military rulers say they plan to give power to civilian government in two years
A pledge by Sudan’s ruling military council to hand over power to a civilian government has been rejected by the country’s main protest group, which said the army was “not capable of creating change”.
In a press conference broadcast on state television, Omar Zein Abideen, a senior army officer and member of the military council, said Sudan’s new rulers had no ambition to hold on to power and had intervened to remove President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday in response to the wishes of the people.
Continue reading...Demonstrators in Khartoum insist a civilian government must replace Omar al-Bashir
As rumours spread that their long-time ruler was finally on his way out, the atmosphere on the streets of Khartoum was victorious.
“The regime has fallen,” people chanted. Flags waved, people danced and sang, and everyone’s hands were up in victory signs. “Freedom, peace and justice,” read one banner. On Wednesday morning, it seemed that the long-fought battle for these values might be on the point of being won.
Continue reading...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...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...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...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...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...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... Witnesses in Khartoum describe attacks by militia using teargas and firing live ammunition
Thousands of protesters camped in the centre of Khartoum appear to have defied a fresh attempt to clear them by armed militia loyal to the Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir.
Civil society groups run by medics reported two dead and many wounded, some critically, in renewed violence in the capital on Tuesday morning. Other groups put the toll as high as five dead, including at least one soldier, and more than a hundred hurt.
Continue reading...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...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...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...Report says aid to displaced people in Africa undermined by Home Office approach to asylum seekers and refugees
The UK government’s migration policy is “disconnected and incoherent” and involves the pitting of one government department against another, a report by MPs has said.
The international development committee (IDC) urged the government to double the number of vulnerable refugees offered resettlement in Britain, up to 10,000 a year.
Continue reading...Xavier Bettel says his same-sex marriage would condemn him to death in some countries
Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, has confronted Arab leaders over the repression of gay rights, telling them his same-sex marriage would condemn him to death in some of their countries.
The conference room at a summit of EU and Arab states fell silent when Bettel made his statement, according to a German TV journalist.
Continue reading...Clashes between police and protesters break out as Omar al-Bashir announces measures
Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, has appointed a new prime minister, but left the country’s current defence, foreign and justice ministers in place following a declaration of a one-year state of emergency.
Just hours after announcing that he would dissolve the country’s central and state governments, Bashir appointed new state governors who were all from the military, according to a presidency statement.
Continue reading...