Sudan opposition warns protests will continue

KHARTOUM - Sudanese authorities arrested 14 leaders of an opposition coalition on Saturday, a spokesman for the grouping said, as anti-government protests driven by an economic crisis continued for a fourth day in several cities.

Farouk Abu Issa, the 85-year-old head of the National Consensus Forces, one of the country's two main opposition groupings, was among those detained after an opposition meeting in the capital Khartoum, said spokesman Sadiq Youssef.

"We demand their immediate release, and their arrest is an attempt by the regime to stop the street movements," Youssef said, adding that Abu Issa was in poor health and had been transferred to hospital after his detention.

Officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The arrests came on the fourth day of demonstrations, fuelled by deteriorating economic conditions in cities across Sudan, in which protesters have voiced anger over corruption and some have called for an end to President Omar al-Bashir's rule.

On Saturday, students protesting in the city of al-Rahad set fire to the ruling party's office and other official buildings and briefly closed the main road to the capital Khartoum, about 370km (230 miles) to the north east, witnesses said.

Police used teargas to disperse protesters, witnesses said. Protesters also gathered in several eastern neighbourhoods of Khartoum and in the southern city of Madani, witnesses said.

Faisal Hassan Ibrahim, an assistant to Bashir and deputy head of the ruling party, said the protests were "coordinated and organised" and that two of those killed in demonstrations in the city of al-Qadarif were from the armed forces.

"Now the Sudanese armed forces are guarding strategic locations in all Sudanese regions," he added.

Internet service has slowed and activists have accused the government of blocking social media to stop protesters communicating. Authorities have blamed the protests on "infiltrators".

Bashir, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, took power in an Islamist and military-backed coup in 1989. Lawmakers this month proposed a constitutional amendment to extend term limits that would have required him to step down in 2020.

Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the opposition Umma party who returned to Sudan this week from nearly a year in self-imposed exile, backed the protests, saying they would "continue because the people are driven by collapsing services".

Deteriorating situation

The protests over the rising cost of bread have claimed 22 lives, al-Mahdi said on Saturday, disputing the lower death toll from the government.

A government decision to raise the price of a loaf of bread from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents) sparked demonstrations across the country on Wednesday.

The protests first erupted in the eastern city of Atbara before spreading to Al-Qadarif, also in eastern Sudan, and then to the capital Khartoum and twin city Omdurman and other areas.

Two demonstrators were killed in Atbara and six others in Al-Qadarif, officials said on Thursday, as protesters torched offices of the ruling National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir.

But according to Mahdi "22 people were martyred and several others wounded".

Speaking to reporters in Omdurman, on the west bank of the Nile, Mahdi said the protest movement "is legal and was launched because of the deteriorating situation in Sudan".

He said that demonstrations will continue to rock Sudan.

Government spokesman Bashar Jumaa on Friday warned that authorities "will not be lenient" with those who set state buildings on fire or cause other damage to public property.

It was Mahdi's first news conference since he returned to Sudan on Wednesday. A fixture of Sudanese politics since the 1960s, Mahdi was prime minister from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989.

His government was the last one to be democratically elected in Sudan, before it was toppled in the coup launched by Bashir.

Since then Mahdi's Umma Party has acted as Sudan's main opposition group and has regularly campaigned against the policies of Bashir's government.

Sudan has been facing a mounting economic crisis over the past year.

The cost of some commodities has more than doubled, inflation is running at close to 70 percent and the pound has plunged in value.

Shortages have been reported for the past three weeks across several cities, including Khartoum.

Protests broke out in January over the rising cost of food, but they were soon brought under control with the arrest of opposition leaders and activists.

Also on Saturday, Sudan's national news agency SUNA reported that Bashir appointed a senior officer from the powerful National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) as governor of Al-Qadarif.

Mubarak Mohammed Shamat will replace Mirghani Saleh who was killed in a helicopter crash on December 9, SUNA said.