Anti-regime rallies erupt in Sudan after Friday prayers

KHARTOUM

Hundreds of Sudanese protesters took to the streets after Friday payers -- in capital Khartoum and elsewhere -- to demand the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir.

According to the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), large demonstrations were reported in several districts of capital Khartoum.

In a statement, the SCP said demonstrators had emerged from more than 40 mosques throughout Khartoum to take part in Friday’s protests.

On Thursday, the eve of International Women’s Day, thousands demonstrated across the country to honor Sudanese women taking part in the rallies.

According to the SCP, more than 850 protesters have been hauled before emergency courts in Khartoum in recent days.

Since mid-December, Sudan has been rocked by popular protests, with demonstrators decrying al-Bashir’s failure to remedy the country’s longstanding economic woes.

A nation of 40 million, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of some three quarters of its oil output -- its main source of foreign currency -- since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.