Sudanese cities engulfed by fresh wave of protests

By Mohammed Amin</p> <p>KHARTOUM (AA) – A fresh wave of protests erupted in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities on Friday, despite an ongoing arrest campaign by security forces.</p> <p>Protesters emerged from the country’s mosques after Friday prayers chanting anti-government slogans and demanding the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir, eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency.</p> <p>For the first time, Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, a prominent opposition leader and a former prime minister, joined the demonstrations in Omdurman, Sudan’s second largest city.</p> <p>“We’re seeing large protests in Omdurman led by former PM Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi,” one witness reported.</p> <p>“Police are using teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds, so the protest was broken up after only one hour,&quot; the witness, speaking to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, added.</p> <p>Opposition sources said earlier Friday that “dozens” of demonstrators had been arrested since Thursday evening.</p> <p>Protests began in Sudan on Dec. 19 in 14 of the country’s 18 states, including Khartoum State.</p> <p>Demonstrators decry rampant inflation and the government’s failure to remedy acute commodity shortages.</p> <p>Al-Bashir, who has been in power since 1989, pledged Monday to carry out economic reforms amid ongoing calls by the opposition to protest.</p> <p>A nation of 40 million, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of three quarters of its oil output — its main source of foreign currency — when South Sudan seceded in 2011.