(Reuters) Police in Sudan used teargas and batons to repel rock-throwing students on Sunday as tension simmered over the deaths of four students following a protest against tuition fees. The police moved in as more than 400 students marched from the University of Khartoum through the center of the capital shouting “The people want to overthrow the regime” and “Killing a student is killing a nation”. The students pelted police cars with rocks for more than an hour. Heavy traffic made it harder for the security forces to break up the protesters, who scuffled with riot police for hours and burned a government bus. On Saturday, activists blamed authorities for the deaths of four students whose bodies were discovered in a canal in a farming region south of Khartoum after a protest earlier in the week. Sudan’s justice ministry decided to form a committee to investigate the deaths at GeziraUniversity, state news agency SUNA reported on Sunday.
Further Reading: www.reuters.com/…/12/…/us-sudan-protest-
Six Hurt in Sudanese Protests
(Al Khaleej Times) Six people were injured on Sunday as Sudanese police clashed with hundreds of protesters showing support for four dead students originally from the conflict-plagued Darfur region, an AFP reporter said. Many people were also detained by the security forces, and a bus owned by the Khartoum city government was torched, the reporter said. The official Radio Omdurman quoted police as saying 47 people were taken into custody when officers broke up an “attempted disturbance.” At least two men suffered head wounds while one was injured in the leg and two women had trouble breathing, apparently from tear gas fired by police, the AFP reporter said. The death of the four students last week, following an alleged crackdown on a tuition protest, has prompted a re-emergence of Arab Spring-inspired demands for the downfall of the government. About 100 demonstrators walked three kilometres (two miles) from the riverfrontUniversity of Khartoum to NilienUniversity where hundreds more joined them before they moved into the bus terminal. Police then fired tear gas but the protesters regrouped, and lobbed back stones before more tear gas was fired. Thick clouds, apparently from the gas, wafted over the western edge of the city as the sun set. Earlier, about 500 students held a mock funeral at the University of Khartoum for the four GeziraUniversity students, whose deaths a student group blamed on authorities and their “militia.”
Further Reading: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.
Al Bashir Directs Removal of Obstacles to External Investment
(Sudan Tribune) President of the Republic Omer Al Bashir has directed the removal of all obstacles facing external investment besides the need to mobilize resources to implement plans and conduct dialogue with farmers to make the coming agricultural season a success. Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Ismail Al Mutaafi revealed after a meeting with the President of the Republic yesterday the reforms introduced in the Gezira Scheme especially in the field of irrigation, funding and administration. The Minister briefed the President on the situation of agricultural production this season which he said ranged between 350 to 400 thousand tons for sesame and high productivity of other crops is also expected in the state.
Further Reading: http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/details.html?rsnpid=217014
UN Concerned Over Yellow Fever Outbreak in Darfur
(Sudan Tribune, All Africa) The United Nations has expressed concern over the recent outbreak of yellow fever in Sudan’s Dafur region, with more than 670 people said to have contracted the deadly disease. Up to 160 people have reportedly died from the disease, ever since the World Health Organization (WHO) was of its outbreak on 29 October. Yellow fever is an incurable viral haemorrhagic fever transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Up to 50 percent of severely affected patients reportedly die if not treated. Ali Al-Za’tari, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan on Friday emphasized the serious nature of the disease, calling for urgent funding to get additional vaccines to control the outbreak. The outbreak of the yellow fever disease, he stressed, is “very significant and the spread of the disease showed no signs of stopping.” Last month, the European Commission expressed willingness to help the Sudanese government cope with the recent outbreak of yellow fever in its troubled western region.
Further Reading: http://allafrica.com/stories/201212100050.html