“Manifestation”: Sudan opposition talks of a campaign of arrests

The opposition Sudanese Professionals Association revealed on Thursday that Sudanese forces are currently carrying out a campaign of arrests targeting opposition leaders.

In a statement posted on its Facebook account, the group said that the campaign comes in anticipation of the protests that took place today..

“These repressive practices will not deter the revolutionary forces from their movement”, he said.

Tensions have simmered in Sudan since last October, when army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan overthrew the civilian transitional government headed by Abdallah Hamdok.

With the country’s political and popular forces rejecting these steps, al-Burhan and Hamdok signed a political agreement on November 21, whereby the latter returned to his position as prime minister after nearly a month of dismissal and detention.

But civil and political forces reject the agreement and demand a complete transfer of power to civilians, rejecting the current partnership in governance with the military component.

The Association of Professionals and the Resistance Committees issued calls for a new departure Thursday in a new manifestation rejecting the political agreement between al-Burhan and Hamdok.

In separate statements, the association designated the Khartoum presidential palace as the destination of the December 30 protests, after they had drawn paths for demonstrators up to the palace.

Mobile phone telecommunications and Internet services will be cut off throughout Thursday.

In a pre-emptive reaction, Sudanese police announced the closure of bridges in Khartoum state.

“The technical committee of the Security and Defense Council announces the closure of all bridges in Khartoum state to traffic, except for the Halfaya and Soba bridges, as of Wednesday evening (December 29th)”, Sudanese police said in a statement.