(Corrects coup date to Oct 25, not Oct 26, in lede para)
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Security forces blocked major roads and bridges in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Sunday against planned protests over the Oct. 25 military coup that have continued even after the reinstatement of the prime minister.
Demonstrations were also planned in other cities across the country to mark the third anniversary of protests that touched off a popular uprising which led to the overthrow of long-ruling Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
On Saturday night, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok warned in a statement that Sudan’s revolution faced a major setback and that political intransigence from all sides threatened the country’s unity and stability.
Security forces sealed off major roads leading to the airport and army headquarters as well as most bridges connecting Khartoum to sister cities Bahri and Omdurman across the Nile river.
Protesters planned to march towards the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum, where security forces including joint army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were heavily deployed.
It would be the ninth in a series of demonstrations against the coup that have continued even after the military reinstated Hamdok, who had been under house arrest, on Nov. 21 and released him and other high-profile political detainees.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors says 45 people have been killed in crackdowns on protesters since the coup.
The military and civilian political parties had previously shared power since Bashir’s removal. But the deal reinstating Hamdok faces opposition from protesters who had seen him as a symbol of resistance to military rule and denounced it as a betrayal.
Civilian parties, and neighbourhood resistance committees that have organised several mass protests, demand full civilian rule under the slogan “no negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy.”
On Saturday night and early Sunday morning, people arrived in bus convoys from other states, including North Kordofan and Gezira, to join protests in Khartoum, witnesses said.
A rally on Friday by members of civilian parties, known as the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition, was broken up by tear gas from an unclear source as witnesses told Reuters there was no sign of security forces on the scene.
This story corrects coup date to Oct 25, not Oct 26, in lede para.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir, writing by Nafisa Eltahir, editing by Mark Heinrich)
