Tens of thousands of Sudanese protesters demanding an end to military rule took to the streets on Thursday, casting doubt on whether a UN initiative will help ease the country out of its deepening political crisis.
A senior police officer and a protester were killed during the demonstrations, according to police and a medical group linked to the pro-democracy movement.
Brig Gen Ali Bareema Hamad was killed "while carrying out his duties and securing protests” in the capital Khartoum, a police statement said on Facebook.
Hamad, who was part of an elite anti-riot unit, “received deadly stabs by groups of protesters … in different parts of his body”, police spokesman Idris Abdalla Idris said.
Other police personnel “suffered severe wounds”, he told state media.
The officer's killing marked the first fatality among security forces since protests calling for a return to civilian rule began more than two months ago.
The protester's death on Thursday took to at least 64 the number of demonstrators killed in these protests. Thousands have been injured.
News of the officer's death came hours after a pro-democracy group, the Forces for Freedom and Change, claimed that authorities were trying to portray the protesters as violent to justify their use of excessive force and to stain the demonstrators' reputation at home and abroad.
Live rounds, tear gas and stun grenades
Security forces on Thursday fired live rounds, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters near the Republican Palace in Khartoum, witnesses said.
Thousands also protested in the capital's districts of Omdurman and Bahri, along with cities north, west and east of the capital.
The protesters in Khartoum chanted slogans against the military and waved Sudan's flag as they marched to the beat of drums.
“With all our power, we are heading to the palace,” chanted protesters who gathered near the white, Nile-side mansion.
Others singled out Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, who led an October 25 coup, in their chants. “Burhan is dirty,” they shouted.
Videos shared online by activists appeared to show soldiers firing machineguns from pickup trucks, chasing protesters amid scenes of chaos and panic.
The medical group linked to the pro-democracy movement said one protester was killed in Bahri from a gunshot wound to the stomach.
There were scores of injuries caused by live ammunition, stabbings and tear gas, it said.
Another medical group used social media platforms to urge surgeons to immediately head to a hospital in Bahri where many injured protesters had been taken.
The authorities did not disrupt internet and telephone services on Thursday as they had done during past protests to deny organisers the means to mobilise.
In another break from past strategy, they left all Nile bridges in the capital open to pedestrians to cross except for one that crosses the Blue Nile near the presidential palace, the witnesses said.
UN initiative in doubt
Thursday's rallies were called by the Resistance Committees, a pro-democracy group that has been the driving force behind a series of street protests since the October coup upended the country’s democratic transition.
The committees and another pro-democracy group, the Sudanese Professionals Association, have rejected the UN initiative launched this week.
The UN is holding consultations with political parties, civil society groups and others as a prelude to a national dialogue.
The Forces for Freedom and Change has been less categorical, saying it will discuss the UN proposal while insisting the military must leave politics altogether as a prerequisite for any settlement.
At least 60 people have been killed and thousands injured in the street protests that followed the October 25 coup, which has placed additional pressure on Gen Al Burhan and his associates.
Pro-democracy activists say the use of live rounds, which caused most of the deaths, could not have happened without the general’s approval. Repeated appeals by western powers and the UN to stop to the use of excessive force have gone unheeded.
“The UN counts on the full co-operation of all parties, especially the authorities, to create an atmosphere conducive these consultations,” the UN in Sudan said on Wednesday night.
“These include immediately ending the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators, holding the perpetrators of such violence accountable, and preserving and protecting the human rights of the Sudanese people.”
Also on Wednesday, the World Health Organisation condemned “attacks” on medical centres during protests, urging authorities to take steps to halt the practice.
Witnesses and hospital workers say members of the security forces had chased protesters inside hospitals, assaulted staff and, in some cases, used stun grenades and tear gas on the premises. There have also been incidents when they prevented ambulances from taking the wounded to hospital.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi called on Sudanese parties to agree on a road map to stabilise the country and hold elections at the end of the democratic transition.
Gen Al Burhan has promised elections in 2023.
“The situation in Sudan needs a political consensus among all existing forces, so it can be a way out of the current crisis,” the Egyptian leader said on Wednesday night.
Sudan and Egypt are neighbours, bound by close political, economic and social ties. The militaries of the two nations have traditionally been close.
More recently, Egypt and Sudan adopted a unified stand towards a dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile that Cairo and Khartoum maintain would hurt their interests.
