07 February 2019•Update: 07 February 2019
By Mohammed Amin
KHARTOUM
Thousands of protesters in 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 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 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.
