KHARTOUM: Hundreds of workers at Sudan’s banks and government offices, including the key oil ministry, went on strike for a second day on Wednesday to demand the country’s ruling generals step down.
The two-day strike aims to pressure the military council that took power after ousting longtime president Omar al Bashir in April to hand over to civilian rule.
The Alliance for Freedom and Change protest movement called the strike after the suspension of talks over the shape of a transitional authority.
Thousands of employees of government offices, banks, private sector firms and the docks of Port Sudan observed the strike on Tuesday, saying only civilian rule can lift Sudan out of its political crisis.
On Wednesday, the capital’s airport began to return to normal after scores of staff stopped work on Tuesday, although the flights of Sudanese airlines Badr, Tarco and Nova remained suspended.
But outside central bank headquarters in downtown Khartoum, hundreds of employees along with workers from other banks, the oil ministry and telecommunications sector held a demonstration against the military council, an AFP correspondent said.
Carrying Sudanese flags, banners and placards reading “civilian rule”, they chanted slogans against the generals.
The demonstrators said they were striking and protesting after a group of soldiers reportedly attacked bank employees on Tuesday.
“We are here to say that we reject the military government and what happened to central bank employees,” said protester Somaya Osman, an employee of telecoms company Zain.
“It’s unacceptable... that’s why we want a civilian government,” she said.
Around her, fellow protesters chanted “freedom, peace, justice!” — the catchcry of the protests that began in December over a hike in bread prices and escalated into a nationwide movement against Bashir.
Late on Tuesday, the Sudanese Professionals Association, the group that launched the protests, said troops had tried to force central bank staff to work.
Hundreds of people also gathered outside the University of El-Fasher in the state of North Darfur in support of the strike on Wednesday, witnesses said.
At Khartoum’s main bus terminal, stranded passengers were looking for private transport as bus company staff remained on strike.
“This is the second day I came to the bus terminal with my family and I’m still unable to travel,” said Mohamed al Amin, who was trying to reach the eastern state of Kassala. — AFP
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