Khartoum protestors decry US sanctions over Darfur

June 2, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Hundreds of people protested on Saturday in front of the US embassy in Khartoum against recently announced US economic sanctions and calling for immediate severance of economic ties with Washington.

Dozens of riot police formed a human wall to bar demonstrators from getting closer to the embassy building, but the demonstration went off peacefully.

“The US incessantly launches hostile campaigns against our country and the sanctions which (President George W.) Bush has declared are not new but, like their predecessors, they are not going to weaken the might of our nation and will not make our willpower and dignity kneel down,” said Omar Kambal, a representaive of the Sudan Youth Union, linked to the country’s ruling party.

“We call upon the national unity government to break all economic relations with the US today … and to rally the national energies for the construction of the state of dignity, honour and sovereignty,” he added.

On Tuesday, Bush tightened US sanctions on Sudan over “genocide” in the country’s western region of Darfur and pushed for a tough new UN Security Council resolution to punish Khartoum for the bloody crisis.

The violence in Darfur has left at least 200,000 people dead and forced more than two million people from their homes, according to the United Nations.

Sudan disputes those estimates, saying only 9,000 people have died.

In addition to condemning the sanctions, the demonstrators called for the removal of concrete security barricades built around the embassy. They are blocking one of the main avenues of the Sudanese capital, and local residents and businessmen have long grumbled about the closure of the road.

Only two days ago the Khartoum state governor ordered the removal of the barricades.

(AFP)