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Leading Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi called on President Omar al-Bashir to step down, providing support for anti-government protesters that began nearly five weeks ago.
"This regime must leave immediately," said 83-year-old al-Mahdi, to hundreds of worshipers in an Omdurman mosque on Friday, the twin city of the capital Khartoum, which has seen almost daily protests against the government.
Al-Mahdi said that since the demonstrations erupted on December 19, "more than 50 people" were killed during the crackdown.
According to officials, 30 people died during the protests, but human rights groups estimate more than 40 the death toll.
The demonstrations – which initially erupted in the city of Atbara (northeast) and spread to several cities – originally they exploded due to rising costs of bread and fuel and other economic hardships, including soaring inflation and imposed limits withdrawals from banks.
But they quickly turned into calls for the resignation of Al-Bashir, in power for 29 years.
The authorities used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to calm the unrest and imposed emergency laws and nocturnal curfews in some cities.
"A transition period will come soon … we support this [protest] al-Mahdi, who served two terms as Sudanese Prime Minister before being dismissed in the 1989 coup led by al-Bashir.
Sudanese Prime Minister Sadiq Elmahdi calls on Bashir to withdraw#SudanUprising
– خالد عويس (@khalidewais) January 25, 2019
& # 39; Document for Change & Freedom & # 39;
After nearly a year in exile, al-Mahdi returned to Sudan last month on the same day the protests began.
He added Friday that his party had signed a document with the Sudanese Professionals' Association (SPA), a coordinating group made up of unions representing doctors, teachers, and engineers who is leading the campaign against the government. ; Al-Bashir.
"It's a document of change and freedom," he said.
"We will organize peaceful protests together in Sudan and outside Sudan," he said, condemning the violence and the use of "live ammunition" against protesters.
Al-Mahdi was Prime Minister from 1966 to 1967, and from 1986 to 1989, as prime minister of Sudanese politics since the 1960s. before being overthrown by Bashir.
The Sudanese economy has struggled to recover in recent years as a result of the loss of between 75 and 80% of its oil reserves – its main source of foreign exchange – with the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
The country's economic difficulties have been exacerbated in recent years, even as the United States lifted the trade sanctions imposed on Sudan for 20 years in October 2017.
Washington, however, has kept Sudan on its list of states sponsoring terrorism, preventing Khartoum from accessing much-needed financial support from institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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