Looking for friends, Sudan's Bashir reopens Eritrea border
"I announce here, from Kassala, that we are opening the border with Eritrea because they are our brothers and our people. Politics will not divide us,” he added.
Sudan closed the border in early January, 2018, after Bashir announced a six-month state of emergency in the regions of Kassala and North Kurdufan to help combat arms and food trafficking.
As Bashir spoke, fresh demonstrations erupted in various parts of Khartoum and Omdurman, the half of the capital on the opposite bank of the Nile, as well as in towns in Jazeera State to the south amid high security.
Protesters heeded calls issued on Wednesday by a civic group that had organized previous demonstrations.
Witnesses said security forces used tear gas against hundreds of protesters shouting slogans against Bashir’s administration in Abbasiya neighborhood in Omdurman.
Demonstrators also blocked Omdurman’s nain al-Arbaeen Street and some side roads with stones, as some 40 police vehicles were deployed in the area. Witnesses said the demonstrators clashed with police who used tear gas to disperse them.
Police also dispersed dozens of demonstrators in Shambat and Burri neighborhoods in Khartoum.
Witnesses saw police chasing demonstrators into side street.
In Wad Madani, the provincial capital of Jazeera state, hundreds chanted: "Down and that’s it” and "peaceful, peaceful against the thieves”.
Witnesses said police initially refrained from coming into contact with the demonstrators in Wad Madani, but subsequently resorted to tear gas to disperse them.
Police spokesman General Hashem Ali said that protests were recorded in parts of Khartoum and other states.
"Police records showed no damage to private or public property while there were some injuries among police and demonstrators, due to stones or tear gas, who were evacuated to hospitals for treatment,” Ali said in a statement.
Defying demands to step down, Bashir told supporters in Kassala: "Changing the government and changing the president will not be through WhatsApp nor Facebook, but will be through the ballot box.”
"This is our pledge and commitment before the Sudanese people … The decision is your right, the masses of the Sudanese people
Source Reuters
Looking for friends, Sudan's Bashir reopens Eritrea border
Waagacusub.com- Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, apparently searching for regional friends amid weeks of protests against his 30-year rule, announced on Thursday he was reopening the border with neighboring Eritrea, shut for a year. Sudanese