{"id":26506,"date":"2018-12-22T04:22:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-22T04:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=26506"},"modified":"2018-12-22T04:22:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-22T04:22:50","slug":"infiltrators-derail-peaceful-demonstrations-in-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=26506","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Infiltrators\u2019 derail peaceful demonstrations in Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nKHARTOUM: A Sudanese government spokesman said on Friday that nationwide protests over soaring prices that have left at least eight people dead in the past two days had been \u201cderailed and transformed by infiltrators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cPeaceful demonstrations were derailed and transformed by infiltrators into subversive activity targeting public institutions and property, burning, destroying and burning some police headquarters,\u201d spokesman Bishara Jumaa said in a statement released by the official Sudan News Agency.<\/p>\n

\nHe did not name anyone but he also said the protesters, some of whom have called for the overthrow of President Omar Bashir, were being exploited by opposition parties.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSome political parties emerged in an attempt to exploit these conditions to shake security and stability in order to achieve their political agenda,\u201d Jumaa said. He did not identify the parties.<\/p>\n

\nHe added that the demonstrations had been \u201cdealt with by police and security forces in a civilized way without repression or opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nPublic anger in Sudan has been building over price rises and other economic hardships, including a doubling in the cost of bread this year and limits on bank withdrawals. At 69 percent, Sudan\u2019s inflation rate is among the world\u2019s highest.<\/p>\n

\nLeading Sudanese opposition figure Sadiq Al-Mahdi returned to Sudan on Wednesday from nearly a year in self-imposed exile and called for a democratic transition in Sudan.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe regime has failed and there is economic deterioration and erosion of the national currency\u2019s value,\u201d Mahdi, who was Sudan\u2019s last democratically elected prime minister and now heads the Umma party, told thousands of supporters.<\/p>\n

\nThe demonstrations on Wednesday and Thursday were among the biggest since crowds came out against cuts to state subsidies in 2013.<\/p>\n

\nOfficials told Sudania 24 TV that six people died in protests in the eastern city of Al-Qadarif and two more in northern Nile River state, without giving details on how they were killed. Police fired teargas to break up a crowd of around 500 people in the capital Khartoum, then chased them through back streets and made arrests, a witness said.<\/p>\n

\nSome of the demonstrators chanted: \u201cThe people want the fall of the regime\u201d \u2014 a slogan used in the \u201cArab Spring\u201d protests that unseated rulers across the Muslim world in 2011. Many called for a new government in 2013.<\/p>\n

\nIn the northern city of Dongola, protesters set fire to the local offices of Bashir\u2019s ruling National Congress Party, witnesses said. To the northeast in Atbara, they hid their faces behind scarves as they came out for a second day, chanting \u201cfreedom\u201d and setting car tires alight, video footage showed.<\/p>\n

\nThe latest violence erupted in Atbara on Wednesday, where crowds also set fire to the ruling party\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\nAuthorities declared a state of emergency in Al-Qadarif, which is near the border with Ethiopia, and extended one in Atbara to the cities of Al-Damir and Berber.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe situation in Al-Qadarif has become dangerous and the protests have developed to include fires and theft and it\u2019s now out of control,\u201d its independent MP, Mubarak Al-Nur, told Reuters. He said he was related to one of the protesters who died.<\/p>\n

\nSudan\u2019s economy has struggled to recover from the loss of three quarters of its oil output \u2014 its main source of foreign currency \u2014 since South Sudan seceded in 2011, keeping most of the oilfields.<\/p>\n

\nThe US lifted 20-year-old trade sanctions on Sudan in October 2017. But many investors have continued to shun a country still listed by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism.<\/p>\n

\nBashir, one of Africa\u2019s longest-serving leaders, took power in 1989. Lawmakers this month proposed a constitutional amendment to extend term limits that would have required him to step down in 2020.<\/p>\n

\nIn recent months he has dissolved the government, named a new central bank governor and brought in a package of reforms, but the moves have done little to contain an economic crisis.<\/p>\n

\nIn October, Sudan sharply devalued its currency after the government asked banks and money changers to set the exchange rate on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

\nThe move led to further price increases and cash shortages, while the gap between the official and black market rates has continued to widen.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI went out to protest because life has stopped in Atbara,\u201d said a 36-year-old man who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n

\nHe told Reuters he had not been able to find any bread in the shops for four days.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cPrices have increased and I have still not been able to withdraw my November salary … because of the liquidity crisis. These are difficult conditions that we can\u2019t live with, and the government doesn\u2019t care about us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KHARTOUM: A Sudanese government spokesman said on Friday that nationwide protests over soaring prices that have left at least eight people dead in the past two days had been \u201cderailed and transformed by infiltrators.\u201d \u201cPeaceful demonstrations were derailed and transformed by infiltrators into subversive activity targeting public institutions and property, burning, destroying and burning some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}