Khartoum Tightens Security ahead of June 30 Protests

Demonstrators wave their national flag as they attend a protest demanding President Omar Al-Bashir to step down, outside Defense Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 10, 2019. (Reuters)
Demonstrators wave their national flag as they attend a protest demanding President Omar Al-Bashir to step down, outside Defense Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 10, 2019. (Reuters)
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Khartoum Tightens Security ahead of June 30 Protests

Demonstrators wave their national flag as they attend a protest demanding President Omar Al-Bashir to step down, outside Defense Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 10, 2019. (Reuters)
Demonstrators wave their national flag as they attend a protest demanding President Omar Al-Bashir to step down, outside Defense Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 10, 2019. (Reuters)

Sudanese authorities have imposed strict security measures in preparation for protests planned by followers of the former regime and Islamists to commemorate the 1989 coup as the revolutionary forces are also planning a rally on the same day.

The Khartoum State Security Committee, chaired by the state’s designated governor, Youssef Adam al-Dai, announced the development of a tight security plan, and tightened coordination between all security and regular agencies to deal decisively with any violence.

For June 29 and 30, bridges and highways will be closed across the country’s provinces without exception.

“We have had information about the plans of the saboteurs and the intruders, who are planning to drag the celebrations into chaos,” al-Dai said in a statement.

Al-Dai said that the State Security Committee will not allow the eruption of violence, calling on everyone to cooperate with the competent authorities to ensure the success of the security plan.

Emergency security measures also include the closure of markets, commercial and service shops, to protect them from saboteurs, according to al-Dai’s statement.

Meanwhile, authorities announced the tightening of the health ban designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus and accordingly issued a decision to freeze the issuance of new permits until further notice.

Al-Dai said that authorities will freeze the issuance of new passes until further notice, while they have begun issuing permits for doctors, merchants and journalists to enable them to roam freely in light of the health restriction imposed to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

He stressed that the government intends to strictly implement the health ban and fully comply with the health requirements for coronavirus prevention.

Al-Dai’s statement appealed to protesters and citizens to cooperate with security services in maintaining the peacefulness of the protests, not to encroach on government buildings and citizens’ properties and to stay away from military sites and areas.



Mounting Tensions in Iraqi Kurdistan Over Delayed Salaries

Street vendors near the Grand Sulaymaniya Mosque (AFP)
Street vendors near the Grand Sulaymaniya Mosque (AFP)
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Mounting Tensions in Iraqi Kurdistan Over Delayed Salaries

Street vendors near the Grand Sulaymaniya Mosque (AFP)
Street vendors near the Grand Sulaymaniya Mosque (AFP)

Public frustration is surging across Sulaymaniyah province in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, as government employees face their second consecutive month without pay. The delays have deepened economic hardship and triggered a slowdown in local markets.

Calls for mass protests intensified in recent days as salaries have remained unpaid since May. With June nearing its end, authorities have yet to announce when workers will receive their wages. Demonstrations planned for Thursday were ultimately stifled by heavy security deployments.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that security forces detained numerous activists and teachers demanding their salaries, along with journalists attempting to cover the protests.

The Metro Center for the Defense of Journalists’ Rights condemned the wave of arrests. Its coordinator, Rahman Gharib, said that security forces apprehended activists, politicians, and reporters on Wednesday and Thursday merely for planning to participate in demonstrations expressing legitimate demands for fair pay and dignified living conditions.

Since 2015, public employees in Kurdistan have repeatedly faced salary delays, the result of deep-rooted financial disputes between Baghdad and the regional government in Erbil.

Kurdistan’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani announced Wednesday that the federal government would send a delegation within two days to resolve the crisis. He stressed that employees’ wages should be kept separate from political disagreements between Baghdad and Erbil.

Earlier this month, Iraqi Finance Minister Taif Sami ordered the suspension of funding for Kurdistan’s salaries and other entitlements, citing the region’s alleged breach of its 12.67 percent budget share. The Kurdish government has since appealed to the international community to help end the deadlock.

Amid the salary crisis, Kurdistan’s Labor Minister Kwestan Muhammad warned of a surge in drug abuse and trafficking across the region. Speaking Thursday at an event marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse, she said Kurdistan had once been nearly free of narcotics, but has now become a key corridor for smuggling drugs, especially toward Canada, via cross-border networks.

She revealed that last month alone, authorities detained 5,746 people on criminal charges, with 1,576 arrests linked to drug offenses. Among them were 1,486 men and 81 women, highlighting how deeply the problem has spread in society.

The region’s security services also disclosed that in the first half of this year, 520 suspects were arrested in drug-related cases, including 243 users and others accused of trafficking.