KHARTOUM (AFP) – Thousands of protesters have gathered for the second time in two weeks to protest foreign interference in Sudan, an AFP journalist reported.
The demonstrators have objected to UN efforts to mediate between the country’s military and civilian leaders following last year’s coup staged by army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Saturday’s demonstrators also expressed anger at a transitional constitution proposed by the Sudanese Bar Association, calling for a civilian government to pull the country out of its current political crisis.
The proposed constitution would impose a ban on activity by the National Congress Party, the movement of former ruler Omar al-Bashir.
“We protest against foreign interference in our country,” demonstrator Ahmed Abderrahman told AFP. “We will not accept the secular constitution of the Sudanese Bar Association.”
He was surrounded by other protesters holding placards reading “No to foreign interference” and “Volker out”, in reference to the UN’s Khartoum envoy Volker Perthes.
Recent protests have also pitted the supporters of Bashir prior to his ouster in 2019 against coup leader Burhan.
The army chief last week warned the protesters to steer clear of the military, saying: “The army does not belong to any party.”
His warning came a week after some 3,000 protesters staged a similar march in front of the UN headquarters.
The junta, led by Burhan, seized power in October 2021, after detaining Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other civilian leaders and dissolving the year-old transitional government as well as the joint ruling military-civilian sovereign council formed after the 2019 ouster of Bashir.
At least 119 people have been killed while demanding a return to civilian rule.
Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been reeling from a weak economy.
The North African country, with a population of about 45 million people, is currently witnessing skyrocketing inflation due to decades of international isolation and mismanagement.