- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, May 31 - Sudanese authorities on Thursday shut down news broadcaster Al Jazeera's Khartoum office, as thousands of protesters gathered outside the country's military headquarters to pressure the ruling generals to cede power.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The sprawling military complex has become the focal point of the weeks-long protest movement, which is calling for the country's Transitional Military Council to hand over power to civilians, following the ousting of longtime autocrat President Omar al-Bashir in April.
Late Thursday, the Qatari television channel said its bureau was abruptly shut down and its journalists banned from reporting in the country with immediate effect, without being given a reason.
"They told us that the military council had decided to close the Al Jazeera network's office and withdraw its license," bureau director Al-Musallami Al-Kabbashi told AFP.
The news channel, which regularly broadcasts footage of the demonstrations in Sudan, is funded by Doha, a close ally of former president Bashir.
"The Network sees this as an attack on media freedom, professional journalism, and the basic tenets of the right for people to know and understand the reality of what is happening in Sudan," Al Jazeera said in a statement published online.
Meanwhile, the military council said incidents on the margins of the protest site were threatening public safety.
"In the face of those developments that threaten public security and safety," authorities would "work in accordance with the law to guarantee citizens' safety and to resolve manifestations of insecurity and lawlessness," it said in a statement.
Chanting slogans in favor of a civilian government, singing and waving Sudanese flags, the mostly young protesters gathered after dusk on Thursday to join the demonstration.
"We're here to confirm our basic demand for a civilian authority in the transitional period until we can guarantee a real democratic transition," said Mohamed Hasan, a young protester outside the military headquarters.
The Alliance for Freedom and Change protest movement had called for people to gather at the site on Thursday for a "million-strong march".
"The goals of our revolution will be reached by peacefulness and not by violence," Wajdi Saleh, a spokesman for the protest group, said as he addressed the crowd.
Source: AFP
Your Comment