EUROPEAN UNION NEWS DIGEST
SUNDAY 06 SEPTEMBER 2013
(Sudan Tribune, All Africa) The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir received the Qatari foreign minister Khalid al-Attiyah on Saturday during his two hours stop in Khartoum, official news agency (SUNA) reported. The London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said that reporters even from SUNA and Sudan TV were barred from covering the meeting and quoted analysts who speculated that the Qatari official came with either a message of support or warning to Khartoum in wake of recent events. This week informed sources told the pro-government al-Rayaam daily that the central bank will receive a $1 billion deposit from Qatar within the coming few days, saying that it will help stabilize exchange rates and curb the rise of dollar price in the black market and mobilize productive sectors.
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Government Denies Saudi Arabia Supported Anti-Government Protests
(Sudan Tribune, All Africa) The Sudanese foreign ministry has denied media reports about Saudi Arabia’s support for the recent protests and the opposition forces to topple the regime and said that Sudan’s relations with the Gulf States are strong and well-established. The foreign ministry also refuted in a statement on Friday that Saudi Arabia denied receiving Sudan’s foreign minister, Ali Ahmed Karti, as claimed by a prominent journalist. The pro-government columnist, Ishag Ahmed Fadl-Allah, wrote in Al-Youm Al-Tali daily on Thursday that Gulf States refused to receive Karti last week because of Sudan’s growing relations with Iran, mentioning Sudan’s reception of Iranian navy warships.
Read More: http://allafrica.com/
Sudanese protest in US, Europe as Khartoum investigates critics
(Radio Dabanga) Cities in the United States and Europe saw Sudanese in the diaspora protesting on Saturday against the violence used by Khartoum on demonstrators across the country over the past week. The violence used by the NCP during demonstrations has been heavily criticized by Sudanese in the diaspora who staged protests in front of the White House in WashingtonDC, Stockholm, and Dublin. They were calling for freedom and justice and the fall of the regime
Read More: https://www.radiodabanga.org/
More than 10 demonstrations in Sudan on ‘Angry Friday’
(Radio Dabanga) Mass demonstrations to overthrow the government of President Omar Al Bashir resumed at several places in Sudan, following the Friday prayers. Activists nicknamed the day “Angry Friday” (Juma al Taghadib), others called it Martyrs’ Friday (Juma al Shuhada), referring to the 210 people who have reportedly been killed by the police in the past nine days of heavy protests.
Read More: https://www.radiodabanga.org/
Hundreds of Sudanese protest, but numbers down after crackdown
(Reuters) Several hundred Sudanese protested in Khartoum on Friday to demand the resignation of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, but crowds were much smaller than last week, when protests provoked a bloody security crackdown. Amnesty International said on Wednesday that 210 protesters were killed in clashes with security forces last week, quoting figures from a Sudanese doctors’ union. This was well above the 34 reported dead by the government, which has denied shooting any protesters it calls “vandals”. In Khartoum’s Bahri district some 500 people took to the streets on Friday, shouting “freedom, freedom”, a Reuters witness said. The protests were much smaller than those last week ago, when thousands took to the streets.
Read More: http://in.reuters.com/
Sudan Charges 35 With Vandalism After Anti-Government Riots
(Reuters) Sudanese authorities have said they arrested 700 people during the worst unrest in central Sudan in years, triggered by cuts to subsidies on cooking oil and fuel that doubled pump prices overnight. A group of 35 people appeared before a judge in Khartoum’s poor Haj Youssef district, defense lawyer Mutassim al-Haj told Reuters. Among the defendants were five people from South Sudan, three women and eight teenagers, he said. The judge offered to release the group on a bail of 20,000 Sudanese pounds ($2,500) but they could not raise the funds, he said. Human rights activist have accused plain-clothed security agents of arresting scores of youths in house searches after the protests erupted.Protests have largely ended in Khartoum amid tight security. Around 45 women gathered in front of the security headquarters in the capital on Thursday to demand the release of all prisoners, a witness said.
Read More: http://www.voanews.com/
Sudan’s NCP to probe signatories of memo criticising government
(Sudan Tribune) The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) will start investigating party members who signed a memo calling for cancelling recent cuts in subsidies and put a halt to the bloody crackdown on protesters. The head of NCP organisational sector, Hamid Sideeg announced on Friday that his party has formed a committee headed by National Assembly speaker Ibrahim Al-Taher to query those whose names appeared in the petition that was circulated publicly. In a statement released by the official news agency SUNA, Sideeg said “such memos undermines the unity of the National Congress Party and serves the agenda of those who work against it”. He further said the committee chaired by Al-Taher with the oil minister Awad Al-Jaz will submit its recommendations within a week.
Read More: http://www.sudantribune.com/
Karti Affirms Important Role of President Al-Bashir for Realizing Peace in Sudan
(SUNA) The Foreign Minister, Ali Karti, has emphasized the important role being played by the President Omer Al-Bashir, for realizing durable peace in Sudan. Addressing the Sudanese – Italian Economic Forum Thursday, Karti said that President Al-Bashir has exerted great efforts for achieving a lasting peace when he signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with South Sudan.He affirmed the government keenness to sit together with all parties and forces at the negotiation table for reaching solution to all problems and differences.
Read More: http://suna-sd.net/
ICC Darfur Chamber terminates proceedings against Saleh Jerbo
(Radio Dabanga) Trial Chamber IV of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced that it is terminating proceedings against Saleh Jerbo, commander of a former rebel faction who was indicted for war crimes in March 2011, but has reportedly subsequently died in battle in Darfur. In April this year, the JEM-Bashar faction who broke away from the mainstream Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to sue for peace with the Khartoum government in 2012, announced its deputy general commander Saleh Mohammed Jerbo was killed in a battle in North Darfur. Jerbo was indicted but the ICC – along with co-accused Abdallah Banda, for allegedly killing 12 Unamid peacekeepers in an attack on their Haskanita coimpound in 2007.
Read More: https://www.radiodabanga.org/
IMF calls on Sudan to adopt tax reforms, projects external debt to hit 87.6% of GDP in 2013
(Sudan Tribune) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) offered a grim assessment of Sudan’s economic situation now and in the near future saying that a number of vital indicators continue to show the need for Khartoum to carry on with deeper reforms. The global financial institution listed a number of positives including a decline in inflation rate by end of August, a decline in deficit as percentage of GDP which exceeded the target and a slowdown in monetary aggregates.
Read More: http://www.sudantribune.com/