Sudan is citing “fake” victim photographs and foreign interference in defense of a deadly crackdown on protesters, which drew fresh criticism from inside the ruling Sudanese National Congress Party (NCP) as rallies continued.
With reporters complaining of stepped-up censorship, numerous videos and photos purporting to show bloodied victims have circulated on YouTube, Facebook and other social media sites since the demonstrations began eight days ago, sparked by a rise in fuel prices.
“Most of the pictures on social media Web sites are from Egypt,” Sudanese Minister of the Interior Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamed told a news conference on Monday, where he and other officials were confronted by a local reporter.
“Why are you always telling lies? The people are killed by NCP militia,” Bahram Abdelmoneim of Al Youm Al Taly newspaper said to the officials.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday met with his Khartoum counterpart, Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Karti, in Washington, but failed to repeat strong US criticism of the deadly crackdown on protestors.
On Friday, US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki criticized what she called a “brutal crackdown” by Khartoum.
However, in Kerry’s meeting with Karti, the crackdown was “not a topic,” Psaki said.
The two men “discussed the importance of peace between Sudan and South Sudan and the need to end the conflicts in Darfur, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan,” she said, as well as the need to allow humanitarian access to protect civilians.
However, British Minister for Africa Mark Simmonds said he was “shocked and saddened” by the reports that Sudan’s security forces had used excessive force.
“I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint and I call on the Sudanese government to cease the use of live ammunition immediately,” he said in a statement.
Authorities say 34 people have died since petrol and diesel prices jumped more than 60 percent on Sept. 23, sending thousands into the streets in the worst urban unrest in the history of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s 24-year reign.
Activists and international human rights groups said at least 50 people were gunned down, most of them in the greater Khartoum area.
The real toll was difficult to determine, but “could be as much as 200,” a foreign diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Khartoum Governor Abdel Rahman al-Khidir told the news conference that police only opened fire to defend their stations.
Hamed said “criminal” attacks separate from the peaceful protests had been launched on police facilities and petrol stations.
“We know that overseas foundations are supporting these criminal activities,” he said, adding that about 700 people have now been arrested. “They used the same tactics that the Darfur rebels are using in Darfur.”
Analyst Magdi El Gizouli has dismissed as “nonsense” government suggestions of rebel links to protests in the impoverished country, where people have endured two years of soaring prices.
A witness to one shooting recounted how plainclothes security officers in a pickup truck suddenly drove up to a protest in the greater Khartoum area.
An officer quickly opened fire with a handgun, wounding one demonstrator before their truck fled the scene, the witness said.
Eight days after demonstrations began in a rural area south of the capital, rallies continued on Monday.
About 200 called for freedom on Monday night as they marched through the streets of Khartoum’s Burri area for a third day to express support for the “martyr” Salah Sanhouri, 28, a pharmacist.
He was shot dead during a protest on Friday, they said.
In Khartoum’s twin city, Omdurman, witnesses said that about 300 people demonstrated at the main bus station until police tear gassed them.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of