More Protests Expected in Sudan Against al-Bashir's Rule

FILE - Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they participate in anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan, Jan. 17, 2019.

Demonstrators are gathering in Sudan’s capital and eastern cities to memorialize those killed in protests against autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, on the anniversary of a 2005 killing of protesters in Port Sudan.

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Tuesday’s demonstrations are expected to be larger than recent ones. Sudanese have lately taken to demonstrations that attempt to avoid crackdowns by the police, protesting in local squares and neighborhoods sometimes blocked off with cars or makeshift barricades.

The current wave of protests began Dec. 19 in opposition to surging prices and a failing economy that doesn’t produce enough jobs for Sudanese, but quickly shifted to calls for an end to al-Bashir’s three decades of rule.

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Al-Bashir, who seized power in a military coup, insists that only elections, which he intends to run in, could bring change.