Sudan’s First Vice President: ‘Emergency’ Meant to Curb Smuggling

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
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Sudan’s First Vice President: ‘Emergency’ Meant to Curb Smuggling

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

Sudan's newly appointed First Vice President Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said, after his meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday, that the state of emergency declared across the country is aimed at stopping smuggling activities "destroying" the economy, not targeting the ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

Emergency doesn’t mean to ‘suppress protests’, he stressed, but is a response for calls to impose security and safety in the country.

Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) revealed in a statement that the kid Muayed Yasir Juma, 5, was run over by a vehicle that belongs to the ‘regime militias’. The police arrested the criminals and handed them out to be trialed according to the emergency law.

SPA denounced the incident and listed it under the 'crimes committed by the government.'

Sudanese Prime Minister Mohamed Tahir Ayala said, following his meeting with Bashir on Wednesday, that they agreed on a number of procedures and decisions that will be taken in the coming days. These procedures are related to economic topics that include removing gaps that weakened the economy in the country.

Ayala vowed to revise all imposed fees and taxes on goods and to guarantee the activation of procedures to ease access to bread, medicine, fuel, and funding.

The Sudanese ‘uprising’ has entered the second week of its 3rd month, after protests first erupted on Dec. 19. The protests were faced with excessive violence, killing 31 citizens according to official numbers, and more than 50 as confirmed by the opposition and the Amnesty International.



US to Deploy B-52s, Warships to Middle East as Aircraft Carrier Departs

Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Washington. (AP)
Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Washington. (AP)
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US to Deploy B-52s, Warships to Middle East as Aircraft Carrier Departs

Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Washington. (AP)
Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Washington. (AP)

The United States said on Friday it will deploy B-52 bombers, fighter jets, refueling aircraft and Navy destroyers to the Middle East, in a readjustment of military assets as the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group prepares to leave the region.

The Pentagon said in a statement that deployments would take place in the coming months and demonstrated the flexibility of the US military movements around the world.

"Should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people," Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said in a statement.

The United States has had as many as two aircraft carriers in the Middle East during the past year of soaring tensions since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Oct. 2023.

The Lincoln's withdrawal will create an aircraft carrier gap until another is cycled into the Middle East.

The latest adjustment in US forces in the region follows direct exchanges of fire in October between Israel and Iran. Israel is also fighting Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and has carried out strikes in Yemen after coming under attack from Iran-aligned Houthi militias.

The United States has pledged to help defend Israel against attack and to safeguard U.S. forces in the Middle East, who have been attacked by Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq, Jordan and off the coast of Yemen.