General strike partially affects daily life in Khartoum

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - Public life in the Sudanese capital was partially affected on Tuesday by a general strike organized by opposition groups and the Sudanese Professional Association (SPA), according to witnesses.

While witnesses in downtown Khartoum said a number of shops had been closed as a result of the strike, one bus driver told Anadolu Agency that public transport was “still moving smoothly”.

The SPA, for its part, said in a statement: “Our calls to protest were answered by the country’s lawyers, doctors, journalists, teachers, pharmacists and a host of other professionals.”

It went on to describe the one-day labor action as “the first step towards a fresh wave of civil disobedience that will bring down the regime of President Omar al-Bashir”.

Sudan has been rocked by protests since last December, with demonstrators decrying al-Bashir’s apparent 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 -- following the secession of South Sudan in 2011.