Bashir: 'Negative organizations' working to destabilize Sudan amid massive protests

Sudanese police fired tear gas at protesters in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman on Sunday, witnesses said, after organizers called for further demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir, on a visit to Cairo to meet his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said the media were exaggerating the size of the problems he faced at home.

"There are negative organizations working on undermining security in the region," Bashir said at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, Xinhua has reported.

Protests sparked by a government decision to raise the price of bread have been seen in the east African country for weeks.

Officials say 30 people have died in the violence since the protests first erupted on December 19 in the farming town of Atbara, before spreading to Khartoum and other regions.

Sudanese demonstrators take part in an anti-government protest in Khartoum, Sudan, January 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

On Sunday, protesters took to the streets in Khartoum and Omdurman to hold sit-ins in several squares, responding to a call by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) which is leading the protests.

As a massive deployment of riot police and security agents prevented them from gathering at several locations, the protesters later began rallies in several residential areas of Khartoum and Omdurman.

Clampdown on squares

Police surrounded many squares and filled some with muddy water to prevent demonstrators from gathering, witnesses said.

The SPA backed by several opposition parties said in a joint statement that despite the deployment of security forces, protesters managed to gather in 11 squares and also stage six rallies in residential areas of Khartoum and Omdurman during the day.

Sudanese demonstrators march during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan, January 24, 2019. /VCG Photo

Late on Sunday, eight more demonstrations were held in Khartoum and Omdurman but police confronted protesters with tear gas, witnesses said.

The SPA had called for sit-ins on Sunday in more than 20 squares in Khartoum and Omdurman.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, the SPA said rallies were also planned on Monday in Darfur, Nuba mountains, Blue Nile, in camps of internally displaced people and some other provinces.

Media 'exaggerating'

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (R) inspects an honor guard, accompanied by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, upon his arrival at the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, January 27, 2019. /VCG Photo

On Sunday, Bashir said the media were exaggerating the size of his problems.

"There is a problem (in Sudan), we are not claiming that there is not. But it's not of the size or extent raised in some media," Bashir said standing next to Sisi at a press conference after their meeting in Cairo.

The protests were "an attempt to clone the so-called Arab Spring in Sudan," he said, referring to similarities between the slogans and use of social media in protests that hit the region in 2010-2011.

(CGTN)