Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 10 March 2020
Sudan PM says he survived 'terror attack' in capital

By SAMY MAGDY Hamdouk's life was a "new
Associated Press chapter in the conspiracy
CAIRO (AP) — Sudan's against the Sudanese revo-
prime minister said Monday lution." U.N. spokesperson
he survived a "terror attack" Stephane Dujarric said U.N
after an explosion and gun- chief Antonio Guterres was
fire targeted his motorcade "shocked and saddened"
in the capital Khartoum. to learn of the attack and
Abdalla Hamdok, a long- expressed "full solidarity"
time economist, tweeted with the prime minister and
he was "safe and in good people of Sudan.
shape" following the ex- The U.S. Embassy in Sudan
plosion. Sudanese state TV tweeted: "We continue to
said Hamdok had been support Sudan's civilian led
heading to his office when transitional government
the attack took place. and stand in solidarity with
Hamdok also tweeted the Sudanese people."
a photo of himself smil- Irfan Siddiq, the British am-
ing and seated at a large bassador in Khartoum, said
desk, while a TV behind him the blast "is a deeply wor-
showed news coverage re- rying event must be inves-
porting he'd survived. tigated fully." He tweeted
The attack highlighted the that the Sudanese prime
fragility of Sudan's transi- Sudanese policemen stand around vehicles that were part of Prime Mister Abdalla Hamdok's minister's office had con-
tion to civilian rule, almost a motorcade in Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, March . 9, 2020. Associated Press firmed Hamdok and his
year after pro-democracy team "are all fine, with no
protesters forced the mili- claimed responsibility for nese-made SUVs typically Youth activists face ar- injuries."
tary to remove autocratic the attack. used by Sudan's top of- rest and intimidation and Monday's blast came less
President Omar al-Bashir The country's top prosecu- ficials parked on a street, are still reeling from a fero- than two months after an
from power and replace tor, Taj al-Ser Ali al-Hebr, damaged with its widows cious crackdown by secu- armed revolt from within
him with a joint military-civil- said in a statement that broken. Another vehicle rity forces last summer that Sudan's security forces shut
ian government, which has prosecutors have em- was badly damaged in the broke up their sit-in outside down the capital's airport
promised to hold elections barked on their investiga- blast. Several dozen peo- the military's headquarters and left at least two people
in three years. tion into the "professionally ple were seen at the site of and killed dozens. dead. The tense stand-off
However, Sudan's generals plotted" attack. the attack, chanting: "With After months of negotia- between the armed forces
remain the de facto rulers A statement from the prime our blood and soul, we re- tions, the military and the and rogue intelligence offi-
of the country and have minister's office said the deem you, Hamdok." pro-democracy movement cers paralyzed street life in
shown little willingness to attackers used explosives The protest movement that reached a power-sharing several parts of Khartoum,
hand over power to civil- and firearms, and that a led the uprising against al- deal in August, at which along with another western
ians. security officer was lightly Bashir called the blast a point Hamdouk took office. city.
Hamdok, in his brief state- wounded. The statement "terrorist attack." The state- The deal established a joint In 1989, al-Bashir came
ment on Twitter, said, "Rest was read by Faisal Saleh, ment by the Forces for military-civilian, 11-mem- to power in an Islamist-
assured that what hap- Sudan's information minis- the Declaration of Free- ber sovereign council to backed military coup and
pened today will not stand ter and interim government dom and Change called govern Sudan for the next imposed a strict interpreta-
in the way of our transi- spokesman. He said the on people to take to the three years. tion of religion on its citizens,
tion, instead it is an addi- convoy was hit near the streets to "show our unity Prominent activist Khalid limiting personal freedoms.
tional push to the wheel of Kober Bridge. and cohesion ... and pro- Omar, secretary general The country was an interna-
change in Sudan." Footage posted online tect the transitional author- of the Sudanese Congress tional pariah for its support
No one immediately showed two white, Japa- ity." Party, said the attempt on of extreme Islamists.q

Egyptian engineer gets 15 years over deadly locomotive crash

By SAMY MAGDY busy Ramses station last According to investiga- across the country in 2018. militant group known as
Associated Press February, killing 31 people tions, the locomotive was The country's deadliest Hasm, which has links to the
CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian and injuring 17. left unattended after Fathy train crash took place in Muslim Brotherhood, which
court Monday sentenced Besides sentencing Fathy got into an argument with 2002 when over 300 people is banned in Egypt, where
a train engineer to 15 years to 15 years, the Cairo crimi- el-Shahat and left the con- were killed when fire erupt- it is considered a terror-
in prison for his conviction nal court fined him about trols without applying the ed in speeding train travel- ist organization. Hasm has
on charges of manslaugh- $570,000 for the damage brakes. The engine began ing from Cairo to southern targeted mainly Egyptian
ter and damaging public caused by the crash. The moving down the track, Egypt. security forces in bombings
property stemming from a court sentenced el-Shahat picking up a speed of 120 Also on Monday, a military and drive-by shootings.
deadly locomotive crash to 10 years. The sentences kph (75 mph) before slam- court in Cairo sentenced The 41 were also accused
last year at the Egyptian can be appealed. ming into a barrier and ex- 41 people to life in prison of carrying out several mili-
capital's main train station. The crash sparked public ploding. on terror-related charges, tant attacks, including one
An argument between en- outrage at the time and Egypt's railway system has a rights lawyer Khaled el- that killed a senior Egyptian
gineers Emad Fathy and prompted then-Transporta- history of badly maintained Masry said. The military sen- army officer and the at-
Ayman el-Shahat led to tion Minister Hisham Arafat equipment and poor man- tenced 98 others to prison tempted assassination of
the unleashing of a speed- to resign. President Abdel agement. terms ranging from three to the country's former mufti,
ing, unmanned locomotive Fattah el-Sissi appointed a The latest official figures 15 years. It acquitted 50. Sheikh Ali Gomaa, and a
that slammed into a bar- military officer to lead the show that over 2,000 train The court convicted the deputy public prosecutor
rier and exploded in Cairo's ministry. accidents took place defendants of joining a in 2016. q