Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, apparently searching for regional friends amid weeks of protests against his 30-year rule, announced yesterday he was reopening the border with neighboring Eritrea, shut for a year.
Addressing a crowd of supporters during a visit to the Kassala provincial capital near the border with Eritrea, Bashir said he was reaching out to Eritreans he called “brothers”.
“I announce here, from Kassala, that we are opening the border with Eritrea because they are our brothers and our people. Politics will not divide us,” he added.
Sudan closed the border in early January, 2018, after Bashir announced a six-month state of emergency in the regions of Kassala and North Kurdufan to help combat the trafficking of weapons and food. Bashir has visited Qatar and Egypt since the protests began, while the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have expressed support for the veteran leader.
Meanwhile, the president has ridiculed his opponents’ use of social media to organise recent protests against his rule. “Changing the government or presidents cannot be done through WhatsApp or Facebook. It can be done only through elections,” he told his supporters.
He was speaking as fresh demonstrations were held in the capital Khartoum. The protests started over cuts to bread subsidies in December but have since morphed into anger at Bashir’s rule.
Security forces used tear gas to disperse protests in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere yesterday. Dozens of people have been killed in more than six weeks of protests, which began as demonstrations swelled into the most sustained street opposition Bashir has faced in power.
There were no immediate reports of any injuries or arrests. In Wad Madani, the provincial capital of Jazeera state, hundreds chanted: “Down and that’s it” and “peaceful, peaceful against the thieves”. Witnesses said police initially refrained from coming in contact with the demonstrators in Wad Madani, but subsequently resorted to tear gas to disperse them.