Thousands of protesters marching towards Sudan’s presidential palace were blocked by police firing tear gas, as an anti-military campaign entered its 10th month.
Protests have continued weekly since an October 25 military takeover that halted a transition to democracy and plunged the country into turmoil.
Police on Sunday blocked protesters from reaching the kilometre-long road that led to the presidential palace, and chased them into nearby side streets, Reuters journalists said.
Military leaders have said they were prepared to step aside if civilian groups could agree on a new government, but political parties have been skeptical.
However, former Sovereign Council member, Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman, said in an interview with local media outlet, Sudan Tribune, on Saturday that new constitutional arrangements were being discussed between the former ruling Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) Coalition and other “revolutionary forces”.
Sunday’s protests were the latest in a series of demonstrations since multi-day sit-ins in Sudan’s capital prior to the Eid holiday. Last week, a protest called for by the FFC was attacked by unidentified assailants.
At least 116 people have been killed in the protests, and thousands injured, many by gunfire, according to medics.
Protesters assumed they will be arrested, injured, or killed, said an injured protester, who asked to be referred to by his nickname, Karika.
“We don’t think we’ll make it back home, and so we have only one message: the military should go to the barricades and the Rapid Support Forces should be dissolved,” he said, referencing the country’s powerful paramilitary group. -Reuters
