SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reuters - Sudanese protesters dig in at sit-in site during Muslim fasting month

10/5/19: Reuters – Sudanese protesters dig in at sit-in site during Muslim fasting month

 Nadine Awadalla’s feature piece reports that the sit-in outside Sudan’s Defence Ministry is continuing during Ramadan.

 Protester Hamouda Ali said that the protesters are: “here all day and struggling under the direct heat of the sun. There is no air conditioning, no (inside) halls. So there is no one here except people with a cause, people with something to defend.”

 Protester Omar Hamza noted that “before Ramadan people were saying that the numbers (of protesters) would go down because of the fasting,” but added that: “we are trying to prove to the [military] that the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Declaration for Freedom and Change Forces are just as strong and that we back them until our demands are met.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan delivers fuel to power stations, has enough flour for June

10/5/19: Reuters- Sudan delivers fuel to power stations, has enough flour for June

 Reuters reports that General Ibrahim Jaber of the Transitionary Military Council (TMC) announced on state television that sufficient fuel supplies have been delivered to power stations in Sudan.

 Jaber also said that flour supplies were sufficient enough to see the 40 million inhabitants of Sudan through to the end of June.

 Jaber also stated the TMC are working towards on a solution for the cash shortages, explaining that the TMC is considering issuing special cards for citizens to buy fuel, as way of coping with the cash shortages that have been affecting the country for months on end.

 Jaber stressed that the aforementioned proposed solution will be “a step that will reduce transfer of currency outside banking system.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post - Sudan's protests brought the nation to the brink of change. Now the U.S. must help., by Azaz Shami

10/5/19: Washington Post – Sudan’s protests brought the nation to the brink of change. Now the U.S. must help., by Azaz Shami

 Sudanese American human rights advocate Azaz Shami calls for US policymakers to use their platform and leverage on Sudanese leaders and regional powers, "to usher a genuine peaceful transition of power to a civilian-led interim government."

 Shami calls for Congress to firstly, call for accountability for past abuses and the end of human rights violations. Secondly, Shami calls for Congress to pass the recent bipartisan Senate resolution introduced by Senators Ted Cruz and Richard Durbin, in order to "put pressure on Sudan’s military council and send a signal that the world is watching."

 Shami then calls for economic support and aid for Sudan to be conditioned on the handing of power to a civilian-led government and "ensuring that the mandate of the transitional military council is constrained so that it cannot usurp power."

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reuters - After ousting Bashir, Sudan's activists struggle to loosen military's grip

10/5/19: Reuters – After ousting Bashir, Sudan’s activists struggle to loosen military’s grip, by Nafisa Eltahir

 Nafisa Eltahir's feature piece highlights challenges facing Sudanese activists locked in a stand-off with the military "testing its clout as a political force."

 Although the Sudanese Professionals Association's calls for civil disobedience could put pressure on the military council given Sudan’s economic vulnerability, the article notes that the military has wealthy and powerful allies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

 The SPA may also be undermined by its lack of political experience. Also, the SPA's refusal to become a political party may leave a power vacuum, posing challenges for Sudan's opposition parties that have been for so long restricted under Al Bashir's regime.

The article also notes opposition divides, with the broad Declaration of Freedom and Change forces making conflicting statements about their approach to negotiations, and many protesters believing that the military should not be negotiated with at all.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudanese lawyers sue Islamists involved in 1989's coup

10/5/19: Sudan Tribune - Sudanese lawyers sue Islamists involved in 1989’s coup

 Sudan Tribune reports that a group of Sudanese lawyers filed a complaint with the Attorney-General against the National Islamic Front (NIF) for organising a coup d’état against the democratic regime in 1989.

 The group is headed by well-known lawyer Ali Mahmoud Hassanein and includes Al-Sir al-Hiber, Kamal al-Gizouli and Mohamed al-Hafiz.

 According to the petition seen by Sudan Tribune, the case is opened against the NIF, which was later split into multiple political organizations, for orchestrating a military coup against the democratic regime, and carried out by military and civilian members of the NIF in June 1989, led by Brigadier General Omar Al Bashir.

The lawsuit mentions the name of several leaders of the Islamic organization including Ibrahim al-Sanousi, Ali al-Haj, Ghazi Salah al-Din, al-Tayeb Mustafa and others.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudan seized 241 kg of gold on suspicion of smuggling operation

10/5/19: Multiple sources – Sudan seized 241 kg of gold on suspicion of smuggling operation

Sudan Tribune

Reuters

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces seized 241 kilograms of gold from a plane that landed in Khartoum on Thursday in an investigation into possible smuggling. The plane had departed from Nile River state, the RSF said.

 General Othman Mohamed of the RSF said that only 93 of the 241 kilograms had been cleared for export, adding that the duty is to “bring this large quantity to the Sudanese central bank.” The status of the remainder is unclear.  

 Gold mining is one of the main sources of foreign currency in Sudan. 70% of output is estimated to be smuggled abroad as producers try to evade regulations requiring them to sell gold to the central bank in local currency at a price far below the black market rate.