Renewed antimilitary protests rocked Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Monday, as the country showed no sign of emerging from a deadly trial of wills pitting its ruling generals against a pro-democracy movement determined to remove them from power.
Witnesses said thousands took to the streets of the capital and other cities to show solidarity with an estimated 200 politicians and pro-democracy activists detained by the military in recent weeks.
Pro-democracy lawyer Enaam Attik said the authorities have ordered that more than 40 people arrested in a crackdown on the protests be freed.
Among the slogans on banners and placards at the rallies on Monday was one saying: “Yes to freedom, no to detentions.”
The demonstrators also carried banners bearing the images of killed and detained protesters.
At least 82 people have been killed — many shot dead — and thousands wounded by the security forces during protests, according to medics.
The latest fatality came on Sunday when a hospital patient on the balcony of his hospital room was killed by a stray bullet during antimilitary protests in Khartoum, according to a medical group aligned with the opposition.
It said Faisal Abdul Rahman, 51, had been recovering from a leg amputation.
Protesters on Monday marched on Bahri, to the north of Khartoum city, rather than on the Republican Palace in the capital itself. The palace has been the target of almost all past protests since a military takeover last year derailed the country’s democratic transition.
Held under the slogan, “The morning will come; and neither the prison nor the prisoner will be there,” protesters in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, were prevented from crossing the river into Bahri by security forces using tear gas and stun grenades, according to witnesses.
In the city of Wad Wadani, south of Khartoum, protesters called on the military “to go back to the barracks".
In the eastern state of Gedaref they chanted, “Civilian is the people's choice,” according to witness Amal Hussein.
Demonstrators also marched to rally outside a government building in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan but security forces halted them with tear gas, according to witnesses.
In the eastern border state of Kassala, young protesters chanted, “No, no to military rule,” as they headed towards a military base in the city, witness Hussein Idris said.
Mass street rallies have been held in Khartoum and across much of the vast Afro-Arab nation since the military last October derailed the country’s democratic transition, following the 2019 removal of longtime leader Omar Al Bashir.
Activists have vowed to continue to demonstrate against the military takeover.
“The situation is very foggy at the moment and we are left with no clear indication of where things are headed or what goes on behind closes doors,” said prominent activist Sulaima Ishaq, a veteran of the 2018-19 uprising that toppled Al Bashir.
“Generally, it’s not looking good for the prospect of democracy or civilian rule, but we will continue to resist until we bring down military rule,” she said.
The arrests and the killings are part of a widening military crackdown on the protest movement being led by army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan. This has given rise to claims among the pro-democracy movement that the military always intended to stay in power, rather than oversee a transition to civilian rule.
Gen Al Burhan has repeatedly assured the Sudanese that he has no interest in ruling the country and that he and the military planned to go back to their barracks if a consensus between the country’s stakeholders is reached or free elections are held in 2023 as planned.
Pro-democracy activists, however, claim that some of the actions and comments by Gen Al Burhan point to his political ambitions and cite the country’s 50 years of military rule since independence in 1956 as evidence of a military establishment convinced of its inherent right to rule.
In an interview with state television this month, Gen Al Burhan suggested that a presidential system would be a better fit for Sudan than a parliamentary system. The latter has been the system of choice during the brief spells of democratic rule in Sudan in the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s.
He also suggested that presidential elections should be held before next year’s parliamentary vote, but gave no details. He signalled his opposition to how the UN is handling its bid to bring all stakeholders to the negotiating table to chart a way out of the political crisis.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PRESIDENTS CUP
Draw for Presidents Cup fourball matches on Thursday (Internationals first mention). All times UAE:
02.32am (Thursday): Marc Leishman/Joaquin Niemann v Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas
02.47am (Thursday): Adam Hadwin/Im Sung-jae v Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay
03.02am (Thursday): Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun v Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau
03.17am (Thursday): Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan v Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed
03.32am (Thursday): Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen v Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Scorline
Iraq 1-0 UAE
Iraq Hussein 28’
Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Takreem Awards winners 2021
Corporate Leadership: Carl Bistany (Lebanon)
Cultural Excellence: Hoor Al Qasimi (UAE)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Bkerzay (Lebanon)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Raya Ani (Iraq)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Women’s Programs Association (Lebanon)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Osamah Al Thini (Libya)
Excellence in Education: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) (Qatar)
Outstanding Arab Woman: Balghis Badri (Sudan)
Scientific and Technological Achievement: Mohamed Slim Alouini (KSA)
Young Entrepreneur: Omar Itani (Lebanon)
Lifetime Achievement: Suad Al Amiry (Palestine)
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Soldier F
“I was in complete disgust at the fact that only one person was to be charged for Bloody Sunday.
“Somebody later said to me, 'you just watch - they'll drop the charge against him'. And sure enough, the charges against Soldier F would go on to be dropped.
“It's pretty hard to think that 50 years on, the State is still covering up for what happened on Bloody Sunday.”
Jimmy Duddy, nephew of John Johnson
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Qualifier A, Muscat
(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv)
Fixtures
Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final
UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
1 Man City 26 20 3 3 63 17 63
2 Liverpool 25 17 6 2 64 20 57
3 Chelsea 25 14 8 3 49 18 50
4 Man Utd 26 13 7 6 44 34 46
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5 West Ham 26 12 6 8 45 34 42
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6 Arsenal 23 13 3 7 36 26 42
7 Wolves 24 12 4 8 23 18 40
8 Tottenham 23 12 4 8 31 31 39
Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
