Sudan prepares for protest against generals

• The rallies mark the anniversary of a coup in 1989 that got rid of the country’s last elected civilian government and gave Omar Al-iron-fisted Bashir power.
• Despite the recent lifting of a state of emergency, security was tight in Khartoum on Thursday.
• UN says that more than 100 people have been killed by the military in violence related to protests.

KHARTOUM: Activists in Sudan have called for massive demonstrations on Thursday to demand the reversal of a military coup in October that drove foreign governments to cut funding, further aggravating a chronic economic crisis.

The rallies mark the anniversary of a coup in 1989 that got rid of the country’s last elected civilian government and gave Omar Al-iron-fisted Bashir power for 30 years.

They remember the 2019 protests that asked the generals who overthrew Bashir in a palace coup to give power back to the civilians.

Because of protests, a civilian-military transitional government was set up, but it was toppled last year.

Despite the recent lifting of a state of emergency, security was tight in Khartoum on Thursday.

Internet and phone lines have been interrupted since early morning, a measure Sudanese authorities regularly take to avoid huge gatherings.

Since army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan seized power last year, Sudan has seen near-weekly protests.

The UN says that more than 100 people have been killed by the military in violence related to protests.

Forces for Freedom and Change, an alliance of civilian groups whose leaders were expelled in the coup, stated June 30 would bring down the coup and block bogus alternatives.

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The Forces for Freedom and Change, an alliance of civilian organisations whose leaders were removed in the coup, stated, “June 30 is our way to bring down the coup and block the path of any fake  alternatives.”

Activists have called for “million-strong” marches to commemorate the “June 30 earthquake.”

Volker Perthes urged restraint from security troops.

“Violence against protesters will not tolerated,” he stated in a statement, adding that “give any opportunity to spoilers who want to escalate tensions in Sudan.”

The foreign ministry called the UN envoy’s ideas “assumptions” that “go against his duty as a mediator” in crisis talks.

Along with the African Union and IGAD, the UN has tried to arrange meetings between generals and civilians, but they’ve been boycotted.

The UN warns that a third of the country’s 40 million people might face life-threatening food shortages due to the worsening economic and political turmoil.

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