UPDATE - Sudan protests resume after president addresses nation

UPDATES WITH PRO-REGIME COUNTER-DEMO

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM (AA) - Demonstrations resumed in Sudanese capital Khartoum on Wednesday hours after President Omar al-Bashir addressed the nation in a televised speech.

Protests also resumed in Omdurman, Sudan’s second largest city, where demonstrators could be heard chanting anti-regime slogans.

Police have continued to use teargas -- along with live ammunition in some cases -- to disperse the crowds.

Later the same day, thousands gathered in central Khartoum where they staged a counter-demonstration in support of al-Bashir.

In a televised address to the nation, al-Bashir pledged to engage in “national dialogue” both with opposition parties and rebel groups, which he urged to return to the negotiation table in the run-up to polls slated for 2020.

"We want to resolve this crisis through dialogue,” he said. “We therefore call on the opposition and rebels to enter into national dialogue so we can sit down together and solve our problems."

Al-Bashir went on to accuse western countries of covertly inciting Sudan’s economic crisis and plotting with “mercenaries” to destabilize the country.

"We will not tolerate sabotage by foreign elements," he asserted.

Sudan has been rocked by protests since last December over difficult economic conditions and the government’s failure to remedy acute commodity shortages.

The authorities say that at least 19 people have been killed in the demonstrations. Opposition groups have put the death toll at closer to 40.