Anti-regime protests resume in several parts of Sudan

KHARTOUM (AA) - Demonstrations resumed in several Sudanese cities on Thursday amid calls for President Omar al-Bashir to step down.

Protests erupted in several parts of Khartoum after the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) urged members of the public to join the demonstrations.

In a statement, the SPA said “hundreds” of university students had taken part in the Khartoum protests.

Thousands of high-school students, meanwhile, reportedly participated in protests held in Khartoum, Atbara, Al-Abyad and West Darfur.

Last month, al-Bashir declared a one-year nationwide state of emergency.

He also announced plans to unveil a new caretaker government and replaced several regional governors with senior army officials.

Al-Bashir also urged lawmakers to postpone ratification of proposed constitutional changes, which -- if approved -- would have allowed him to run for another term in office in polls slated for 2020.

Shortly afterward, al-Bashir appointed Defense Minister Awad ibn Oaf as the country’s first vice-president.

Since mid-December, Sudan has been rocked by popular protests, with demonstrators decrying al-Bashir’s seeming failure to remedy the country’s chronic economic woes.

A nation of 40 million, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of some three quarters of its oil output -- its main source of foreign currency -- since the 2011 secession of South Sudan.