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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 4 June 2019

Sudan troops move to crush pro-democracy camp, killing 30

By BASSAM HATOUM ing on the ground in the re-
SAMY MAGDY ception area as there are
Associated Press not enough beds," said Dr.
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) Azza al-Kamel of the Royal
— Sudan's ruling military Care hospital.
moved to crush the pro- Hundreds were arrested,
test movement opposing according to al-Zein and
its grip on power as security another activist, Hisham
forces overran the main sit- Shalabi. Photos posted
in site in the capital early online showed dozens of
Monday, unleashing furious men and women lined up
volleys of gunfire, burning on the pavement, sitting
down tents and killing at or lying face down, under
least 30 people, witnesses guard by troops.
and protest leaders said. The assault ended the sit-in
With the assault, the gen- at the heart of the move-
erals signaled an end of ment that echoed the 2011
their tolerance of the pro- Arab Spring uprisings — al-
democracy demonstrators, though Sudan's sought to
who for months have been learn from the mistakes of
camped outside the mili- other protesters. Its leaders
tary's headquarters as the insisted that the removal
two sides negotiated over of al-Bashir after 30 years
who would run the coun- in power was not enough.
try after the April ouster of Tens of thousands remained
longtime strongman Omar A protester wearing a Sudanese flag flashes the victory sign in front of burning tires and debris on in place in Khartoum and
al-Bashir. road 60, near Khartoum's army headquarters, in Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, June 3, 2019. other camps around the
After they succeeded in Associated Press country, demanding a fast
forcing the military to re- transition to civilian rule.
move al-Bashir, the protest- should have been treated and Rapid Support Forces bricks and dug-up pave- The negotiations had im-
ers had stayed in the streets, like al-Bashir," he said. "Now — an elite unit that during ment, and some threw posed a degree of peace.
demanding the generals the situation is either them the anti-al-Bashir protests stones before being driven But tensions mounted in
move to the background or us, there is no other way." had vowed to protect the back by walls of blue-clad recent weeks as the talks
and allow civilians to lead The ruling military council sit-in — moved in on the security forces carrying yielded little progress. The
the transition. said in a statement that gathering after overnight sticks. One video showed talks focus on the makeup
The dispersal of the sit-in security forces had been rains, activists said. police swarming around a of a transitional "sover-
now risks escalating vio- trying to clear an area ad- "They are surrounding the protester sprawled on the eignty council" that would
lence even further. Scat- jacent to the protest camp sit-in from all directions," ground, beating him with run the country for the next
tered by the bloody as- when those it was chasing one activist, Amal al-Zein, sticks. In another video, res- three years. Protesters de-
sault, protesters vowed to fled into the sit-in site, lead- said early in the assault, in idents opened their doors mand the military have
keep up their campaign, ing to the shooting deaths which the forces burned to shelter those who ran. only limited involvement in
suspending talks and call- and injuries. tents and arrested those The Sudan Doctors' Com- the council, but the ruling
ing for a general strike and But activists said the assault trying to flee. mittee put the death toll generals have resisted re-
civil disobedience. They appeared to be a coor- An Associated Press jour- at 30 and said it was ris- linquishing power.
urged nighttime marches dinated move, with other nalist heard gunshots and ing, although it was difficult Just over a week ago, Gen.
across the country. forces attacking similar sit- explosions, and saw buses to count in the area out- Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the
"This is a critical point in ins in Khartoum's sister city and soldiers on foot block- side the military complex head of the military coun-
our revolution. The military of Omdurman and the ing roads leading to the in Khartoum. Hundreds of cil that is ruling Sudan, met
council has chosen esca- eastern city of al-Qadarif. protest site. In online videos, people were wounded, with his two top allies, the
lation and confrontation," The attack came on the protesters were seen run- many by gunfire, the group president of Egypt and the
said Mohammed Yousef al- day before the Eid holiday ning and ducking as bar- said. crown prince of the Unit-
Mustafa, a spokesman for that ends Ramadan, the rages of gunfire echoed. Medical personnel and ed Arab Emirates. Those
the Sudanese Profession- holy month when Muslims Smoke rose from tires set wounded were trapped in leaders backed al-Bashir's
als' Association, which has fast during daylight hours. ablaze by the protesters. clinics as troops overran the removal and have given
spearheaded the protests. Large numbers of troops Demonstrators stood be- area. strong support to the mili-
"Those are criminals who from the military, police hind low barricades of "Wounded people are ly- tary council.q