Sudan protests resume for 4th day over prices, shortages

Protests over worsening economic conditions resumed Saturday for a fourth consecutive day, with thousands taking to the streets in a string of Sudanese cities, including the capital Khartoum, as activists reported that authorities rounded up more than a dozen politicians from a leftist opposition coalition.

The continuing unrest is striking in a country where any potentially serious threat to President Omar Bashir’s 29-year Islamic rule has been brutally quashed. The ongoing protests have taken on an increasingly political slant, with demonstrators calling on the Sudanese leader to step down and chanting slogans against what they see as rampant corruption under the watch of the general-turned-president.

Saturday’s unrest came as Bashir fired the governor of Gadaref, a province in eastern Sudan that is home to six of the nine demonstrators who died Thursday in clashes with police, according to Sudan’s state news agency.

Meanwhile, Sudanese activists in Khartoum told The Associated Press by phone that authorities on Saturday detained 16 opposition leaders, of whom 14 are from a leftist opposition coalition accused of fomenting the unrest. Among those detained is Farouk Abu Issa, the 85-year-old leader of the National Consensus Forces, they added. Also detained are Sarah Noqd Allah and Ibrahim al-Amin, leaders of the large opposition Umma Party, according to the activists. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

-align: justify;”>There was no word from the government on the arrests.

The agency said schools have been indefinitely closed in a province north of Khartoum and in North Darfur province west of the capital, where classes have also been suspended. Authorities also placed the eastern cities of Kosti and Rabak under curfew following acts of “sabotage” targeting government offices there, according to the agency.

The protests are mostly about rising prices and shortages of food and fuel. There has also been a liquidity crunch that forced authorities to limit bank withdrawals and caused long lines at ATMs. A devaluation of the Sudanese pound in October caused a significant spike in inflation, which now stands at around 60 percent, in some cases doubling the price of basic goods.

Bashir came to power in a 1989 military coup backed by Islamists. It overthrew a democratically elected but dysfunctional government led by then prime minister Sadeq al-Mahdi, who triumphantly returned to Sudan earlier this week after a year of self-imposed exile. Thousands of supporters received him.

Saturday’s protests took place in several Khartoum suburbs, the railway city of Atbara north of the capital and in northern Kordofan in western Sudan. Activists flooded social media networks with video clips purporting to show protesters running away as the sound of gunfire rings out or of security men beating up detained protesters.