Daily Times

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has bound himself more tightly to the country’s military and refuses to bow to the demands of street protesters who for over three months now have been calling for the longtime autocrat to step down. The wily 74-year-old has remained in power through three decades of war and sanctions, the secession of Sudan’s oil-rich south in 2011 and an international arrest warrant for genocide and war crimes linked to the Darfur conflict. But since December he has faced the biggest protests of his long rule, with political parties and unions demanding his ouster and demonstrators chanting slogans from the 2011 Arab Spring. In response, Al-Bashir declared a state of emergency, banned all unauthorized gatherings and gave security forces sweeping powers to try and quash the protests.

Published in Daily Times, March 15^th 2019.