The land between North and Central Africa, located at the confluence of the White and Blue Nile, has been ruled by Umar al-Bashir with a hard hand for nearly 30 years. But now his power is challenged.
Since the 75-year-old cut subsidies for bread in December, there are protests nationwide. Intimidation did not help. Meanwhile, Bashir’s security forces regularly fire live ammunition. A few days ago, a doctor died from a bullet when he was kneeling on the ground and treating an injured person.
The regime has now arrested hundreds of people. According to official figures, 29 people have been killed so far. Human rights groups, on the other hand, assume at least 45 deaths.
Followers of Bashir at a demonstration for the ruler
The violence with which Bashir has always held his country together could now become a diplomatic problem. The reason: The dead and injured cloud the just improved image of his regime in the West.
Since the 1990s, Sudan has been heavily sanctioned for allegedly supporting jihadists, then for violating human rights in the Darfur region.
Bashir himself was on the wanted list of the International Hague Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity. In 2014, The Hague suspended proceedings.
A short time later, the European Union recognized the Republic as a valuable partner in the fight against migration. The country is one of the most important escape and migration routes towards the Mediterranean. Border guards of the dictatorship also learned from the federal police. The seminars focused on the rule of law and good policing.
The US has also lifted sanctions under President Donald Trump against the country that had ordered Bill Clinton.
All these changes could not end the country’s economic misery. Particularly hard hit the Sudan in 2011, the secession of South Sudan. Three-quarters of the rich oil reserves were lost to the new neighbors after decades of civil war – the regime’s main source of income in Khartoum so far. The result: a devaluation of the national currency, the risk of hyperinflation.
As in 2018, queues formed in front of the banks this January
Although Bashir came to power in 1989 with the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the meantime, however, he has turned his back on the Shiite power of protection and turned to the Sunni Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. The ruling house in Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates have repeatedly backed his regime with billions of dollars. In return Bashir participates in the ten-country coalition, which fights in the Yemen war against the Iran-supported Huthi rebels.
Last week, the Emirates sent first aid, as the Foreign Ministry announced in Karthum.
More aid from Turkey and Russia will follow, it was said, especially fuel and wheat.
Also in Qatar, where Bashir traveled a few days ago, Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani promised support for „the unity and stability“ of Sudan.
Finally, Bashir toured Egypt on the weekend, after visiting military ruler Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in his country, people were trying to „copy the Arab Spring“.
Bashir in Cairo
Russia has for some time been a new and important partner of the Bashir government. Rumors that private Russian security companies are training and reinforcing Bashir’s forces have been around for some time. In the wake of the current crisis, Moscow officially confirmed for the first time that Russian mercenaries were active in Sudan.
But this has „nothing to do with the Russian state,“ said a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Office, according to news agency Reuters. The battle-hardened men are solely in Sudan to train „military and police.“
