Demos across Sudan voice support for PM Hamdok

People across Sudan took to the streets on Monday afternoon to show their support for Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and the transitional government after the PM survived a failed assassination attempt in the morning.

Khartoum and several other states saw spontaneous demonstrations. Hamdok himself emphasised that “such a heinous act will not stop the transitional government from achieving its objectives and promises”.

Two vehicles were severely damaged and a policemen was wounded when an explosive device detonated near to the PM’s motorcade as it approached Kober Bridge in Khartoum North at 9 am yesterday. Hamdok was unhurt, and was seen to continue his usual duties after the incident.

In Wad Madani, El Gedaref, Kassala, and Port Sudan a significant number of people protested against what they described as a “terrorist act”, demanding swift apprehension of those responsible and bringing them justice. Residents of El Gedaref planned a demonstration in support for the Sudanese Prime Minister on Tuesday.

In an emergency session of the Council of Ministers following the attack on Monday, Hamdok said that “the revolution will continue to focus on accomplishing its objectives and such heinous act will not stop us for doing so… The Sudanese youth has been the backbone of this revolution and they have paid a high price for that. Hence our souls are not more important than those who sacrificed their lives for change.”

‘Crime against the state’

Attorney General Taj Elsir El Hibir immediately launched investigations into the assassination attempt in which a policeman was wounded and two vehicles of the Prime Minister’s convoy were severely damaged.

El Hibir described the attack on Hamdok’s convoy on Monday morning as “an attack on the entire transitional constitutional system in the country”.

In a statement, he said that the public prosecution believes that this work has been professionally planned, and thus constitutes “a full-fledged crime against the state”.

He explained that “dismantling of terrorist organisations and their cells is one of the priorities of the police, the security apparatus, and other relevant state agencies”.

Abyei

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports that the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) in Abyei-Muglad locality in West Kordofan, organised a rally in front of the locality’s head-office today condemning the attack on PM Hamdok.

The FFC indicated that “the Prime Minister was subjected to an apparent attack on democracy and targeting of the revolution”.

The spokesman for the FFC in Abyei, Hussein El Haj, who addressed the gathering denounced the attack against the Prime Minister, considering it as “targeting against the free nation”.

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