Public anger over economic woes simmers in Sudan capital

On Friday, a number of districts in the capital Khartoum witnessed scattered demonstrations in protest against the current economic crisis and surge of prices, where the protesters burned tires on the main roads to express their anger.

After Friday prayers, worshippers at the Wad Nubawi mosque* in Omdurman organised a speech calling on the political forces to move from opposition to resistance.

They stressed the peacefulness of the protests and condemned the attempts of the government to link the protests with sabotage.

They stressed that the protests in the country did not resort to violence or destruction of public and private property.

The Imam of the Wad Nubawi mosque launched a harsh attack on the government’s economic policies and held it responsible for the surge of prices, lack of fuel, the scarcity of liquidity, the collapse of the national currency and the aggravation of the suffering.

He warned of the explosion of the revolution of the hungry, condemning the government’s waste of public resources in conferences and celebrations.

He also condemned the crackdown, campaigns and taxation of vulnerable groups such as tea sellers and cart owners.

He described the economic crisis in the country as an unprecedented, pointing to the skyrocketing of the prices of medicines.

On Friday, police were deployed in various areas of the capital Khartoum, especially at El Soug El Arabi market in preparation to put down expected protests called for by activists through social networking sites because of the economic crisis.

Yesterday, the US embassy warned its citizens to avoid downtown Khartoum because of the protests.

* The worshippers support El Sadig El Mahdi, Imam of the Ansar, i.e. followers of El Mahdi, the leader of the 1881 Sudanese Muslim revolt against the Anglo-Egyptian rulers.