Anti-regime demonstrations resume in Khartoum

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM (AA) - Thousands of protesters in Sudanese capital Khartoum hit the streets Thursday for renewed demonstrations against the government of President Omar al-Bashir.

According to witnesses, thousands of protesters could be seen in downtown Khartoum, bringing traffic in the streets of the capital to a standstill.

“Protesters chanted anti-government slogans, while police fired teargas in an effort to disperse them,” one demonstrator, a lawyer by profession, told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

Hassan Ahmed, a trader who works in downtown Khartoum, said the number of protesters had steadily increased -- despite the teargas -- since Thursday morning.

“You can hear them everywhere, chanting, ‘Freedom, peace and justice!’,” Ahmed told Anadolu Agency.

Thursday’s demonstrations come one day after al-Bashir unveiled a raft of new economic reforms aimed at stimulating Sudan’s moribund economy.

Speaking with the editors of several local newspapers on Wednesday evening, al-Bashir also pledged to “review” legislation governing public order, military service and microfinancing grants for young entrepreneurs.

Sudan has been rocked by popular protests since mid-December, with demonstrators decrying al-Bashir’s failure to remedy the country’s chronic economic woes.

A nation of 40 million, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of some three quarters of its oil output -- its main source of foreign currency -- since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.