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Sudan Forces Fire Tear Gas as Protesters Head to Presidential Palace

Sudanese demonstrators rally to mark three years since the start of mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, near the Presidential palace in the capital Khartoum on December 19, 2021. (AFP)
Sudanese demonstrators rally to mark three years since the start of mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, near the Presidential palace in the capital Khartoum on December 19, 2021. (AFP)
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Sudan Forces Fire Tear Gas as Protesters Head to Presidential Palace

Sudanese demonstrators rally to mark three years since the start of mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, near the Presidential palace in the capital Khartoum on December 19, 2021. (AFP)
Sudanese demonstrators rally to mark three years since the start of mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, near the Presidential palace in the capital Khartoum on December 19, 2021. (AFP)

Protesters opposed to military rule on Saturday reached the vicinity of the presidential palace in the capital of Khartoum for the second time in a week, television images showed, despite heavy tear gas and a communications black out.

A Reuters witness said Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowds on a tenth day of major demonstrations since an Oct. 25 coup.

Protests have continued even after Abdalla Hamdok was reinstated as prime minister last month.

A week ago, demonstrators managed to begin a sit-in at the gates of the palace, but on Saturday they were met with rows of security forces.

Internet services were disrupted in the capital, Khartoum, and locals were unable to make or receive domestic calls on Saturday, the witnesses said, while soldiers and Rapid Support Forces blocked roads leading to bridges linking Khartoum with Omdurman, its sister city across the Nile river.

People still managed to post images on social media showing protests taking place in several other cities including Madani and Atbara.

In neighboring Omdurman, security forces also fired tear gas at protesters around 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) away from a bridge connecting the city to central Khartoum, another Reuters witness said.

'Chaos and abuses'

The SUNA state news agency reported that the province of Khartoum closed bridges on Friday evening in anticipation of the protests.

"Departing from peacefulness, approaching and infringing on sovereign and strategic sites in central Khartoum is a violation of the laws," SUNA reported, citing a provincial security coordination committee.

"Chaos and abuses will be dealt with," it added.

The demonstrators have demanded that the military has no role in government during a transition to free elections

Protesters in Khartoum chanted: "Close the street! Close the bridge! Burhan will come straight to you," referring to military leader and sovereign council head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

They were also heard cheering when security forces fired tear gas, a Reuters witness said.

A senior official at one internet provider told Reuters the service disruption followed a decision by the National Telecommunication Corporation, which oversees the sector.

UN Special Representative to Sudan Volker Perthes urged Sudanese authorities not to stand in the way of Saturday's planned demonstrations.

"Freedom of expression is a human right. This includes full access to the Internet. According to international conventions, no one should be arrested for intent to protest peacefully," Perthes said.

The military could not immediately be reached for comment.

In Darfur, Governor Minni Minnawi asked citizens to stop looting the offices of UNAMID peacekeepers late on Friday, with sources telling Reuters they heard gunshots in the vicinity on Saturday morning.

Last Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people marched to the presidential palace and the security forces fired volleys of tear gas and stun grenades as they dispersed protesters who had been trying to organize a sit-in.

Forty-eight people have been killed in crackdowns on protests since the coup, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said.

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Arab World

Investors Eye Syria After Trump Sanctions Move

Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 
Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 
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Investors Eye Syria After Trump Sanctions Move

Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 
Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 

An end to US sanctions on Syria is expected to mark a new era for an economy devastated by 13 years of war, opening the way for investment flows from the Syrian diaspora, Türkiye, and Gulf states that back the new government.

Business executives, Syria's finance minister, and analysts told Reuters they anticipated an influx of capital into the bankrupt economy once sanctions are lifted in line with President Donald Trump's surprise announcement, notwithstanding the many challenges still facing the deeply-fractured nation.

Billionaire Syrian businessman Ghassan Aboud told Reuters he was making plans to invest, and expected other Syrians with international business ties to be doing the same.

“They were scared to come and work in Syria due to the sanctions risks ... This will completely disappear now,” said Aboud, who lives in the UAE.

“I'm of course planning to enter the market, for two reasons: I want to help the country recover in any way possible, and second, the ground is fertile: any seed planted today can result in a good profit margin,” he said, outlining a multi-billion dollar plan to boost Syrian art, culture and education.

The lifting of sanctions would radically reshape an economy already set on a new course by Syria's new rulers, who have pursued free-market policies and shifted away from the state-led model adopted during five decades of rule by the Assad family.

The United States and other Western powers imposed tough sanctions on Syria during the war that spiraled out of protests against Bashar al-Assad's rule in 2011.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a televised address late on Wednesday, that Trump's decision was historic and brave, and vowed that Syria would strengthen the investment climate.

“We welcome all investors from our homeland, both at home and abroad, and from our Arab and Turkish brothers and friends around the world,” he said.

The conflict has turned many urban areas to rubble and killed hundreds of thousands of people. More than 90% of the 23 million Syrians live below the poverty line, UN agencies say.

“There's a real chance for a transformational change in Syria and the broader region," said Timothy Ash, senior sovereign strategist for emerging markets at RBC BlueBay Asset Management.

Turkish firms and banks are expected to benefit from the lifting of sanctions, said Onur Genc, chief executive officer of financial group BBVA, whose group comprises Garanti BBVA, the second-largest private bank in Türkiye.

“For Türkiye, it's going to be positive because there's a lot of reconstruction needed in Syria. Who's there to do that? The Turkish companies,” he told Reuters.

“The lifting of the sanctions would allow the Turkish companies to go there now much better, and the Turkish banks to be able to finance them - so it will help,” he said.

Syria’s economy more than halved between 2010 and 2021, official Syrian data cited by the World Bank in 2024 showed. However, this was likely an underestimate, the bank said.

Syria's pound has strengthened since Trump's announcement.

Currency traders said it was hovering between 9,000 and 9,500 to the dollar on Wednesday, compared to 12,600 earlier this week. Before the war in 2011, it traded at 47.

Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh told Reuters that investors from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, among others, had been making inquiries about investing.

“Syria today is a land of opportunities, with immense potential across every sector—from agriculture to oil, tourism, infrastructure, and transportation,” he told Reuters.

“We call on all investors to take this opportunity.”

Watching footage of Trump meeting Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday at his Damascus office, Karam Bechara, general manager of Shahba Bank in Syria, described excitement in the business community. “It’s too good to be true,” he said.

“We’re on the right track now internationally unless something happens in Syria that derails the process,” he said.

But Syria remains fragile.

Some armed groups have yet to turn their weapons over to the government, Kurdish autonomy demands are a point of friction, and sectarian violence has left minorities afraid of Sharaa's rule, despite his promises of protection and inclusive governance. Israel opposes Sharaa, saying he remains a jihadist, and has bombed Syria repeatedly.

Jihad Yazigi, editor of a leading newsletter on Syria's economy, Syria Report, said the US decision was transformative because it sent “a very strong political signal” and opened the way for its reintegration with the Gulf, international financial organizations, and Syria's big diaspora in the West.

Imad al-Khatib, a Lebanese investor, said he had accelerated his plans to invest in Syria after Trump's announcement.

Together with Lebanese and Syrian partners, he carried out a feasibility study for a $200 million waste sorting plant in Damascus two months ago. On Wednesday morning, he sent a team of specialists to Syria on Wednesday to begin preparations.

“This is the first step ... and larger steps will follow, God willing. We will certainly work to attract new investors because Syria is much larger than Lebanon,” he told Reuters.