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TEHRAN, December 24 - Fans at a soccer match in Sudan's capital chanted slogans demanding President Omar Bashir step down and later clashed with police in the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman, according to activists and video clips posted online.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The clips show the fans in the stadium chanting "the people want to bring down the regime," one of the main slogans of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2010 and 2011.
Activists said police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the fans after the match, in which local club al-Hilal beat a Tunisian side 1-0 in the African Champions League. Two of al-Hilal's all-time greats — retired players Haytham Mustafa and Faisal al-Agab — had taken to Twitter to call on fans to protest Bashir's rule during the match.
The activists said there were casualties among protesters when they clashed with police after the match, but they had no exact figures.
The violence was the latest in a series of anti-government protests across Sudan, which were initially sparked by rising prices and shortages of food and fuel, but soon turned to demands for Bashir to step down.
Bashir, in his mid-70s, seized power in a 1989 military coup that overthrew an elected but ineffective government. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for committing crimes against humanity and genocide in the western Darfur region.
An opposition leader said 22 protesters have been killed in clashes with police since the unrest began last week. The government, which has imposed a near-total news blackout on the protests, has acknowledged fatalities but gave no figures.
Sudan's doctors, meanwhile, began an indefinite strike on Monday, with organizers reporting a widespread response. The strike is mainly focused on government hospitals, but the organizers said some doctors in private clinics were joining in.
An umbrella coalition of professional unions said the doctors' strike would be the first of a series of work stoppages to force Bashir to step down. It said its members will march on Khartoum's Republican Palace, where they would submit a written demand for the president to step down. It also called on non-members to join in.
"Together we can rebuild everything and climb the ladder to progress and civilization," said a coalition statement. "Let us all unite. Come and join so we can realize the will of the people."
The coalition is an independent entity which operates outside parallel groups loyal to the government.
Seeking to staunch the unrest, authorities have arrested more than a dozen opposition leaders and suspended university and school classes in much of Sudan. They have also tightened censorship of newspapers and sought to stop journalists from covering the street protests.
Bashir received a lifeline from the military on Sunday, which assured him of its loyalty and said it will continue to protect the nation in coordination with the police and the country's feared security agencies.
Source: AP
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