Sudan Police Forcefully Disperse Anti-Govt. Demo
Sudanese police used tear gas and batons to disperse hundreds of anti-government demonstrators gathered in a neighborhood of Khartoum on Tuesday for the funeral of an activist, witnesses said.
The protesters assembled in Shajara, a southern suburb of the capital, for the burial of an activist who died after being wounded when police broke up a rally in the area two weeks ago.
"This morning at 9:00 am (0600 GMT) 850 people demonstrated on the streets," one witness told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.
The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and threw stones at police, before the police used tear gas and batons to disperse them, the witness said.
The crowds tried to march again at 1:00 pm but were dispersed.
A second witness, who asked not to be named, said "around 800 demonstrators burned car tires in the main street".
They also "clashed with the police, who fired tear gas at them, and then threw stones at them and pelted the police station in the area with rocks."
Thirty trucks of riot police later surrounded the area, said an AFP journalist who visited shortly after the demonstrations.
Tires were still burning on the street where the demonstrations took place and tear gas still hung in the air.
It was not possible to reach the police for comment.
Soumaya Bushra al-Tayeb, an activist with the opposition Umma party, was wounded in Shajara two weeks ago when police dispersed a demonstration in the area, her family said.
Residents of Shajara were demonstrating against what they said were government attempts to seize their land for investors.
"She died from wounds received when she took part in the demonstrations," Sadiq al-Mubarak, a cousin of the dead activist, told AFP.
Protests over local grievances occur frequently in Sudan but are often suppressed by police and state security agents.
Source: Agence France Presse
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