Sudanese police clash with protesters

Students clashed with police in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Sunday during a day of anti-government protests. Dozens of people have been arrested and Khartoum University's director has been sacked.

Reuters

Hundreds of youths demonstrated near the presidential palace against the regime and high goods prices. Riot police chased them and arrested at least five.

At the medical faculty of Khartoum University, security officers prevented a large group of student demonstrators from leaving the campus.

The students eventually forced their way out onto the street, shouting: "Revolution against dictatorship".

Police attacked them with batons, arresting several and forcing them back inside the university compound, which was then surrounded by eight police trucks.

Across the river, at the Islamic University of Omdurman, about 1,000 demonstrators marched shouting slogans criticising President Omar al-Beshir.

"Ocampo, what you have said is right!" they chanted, referring to the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who has accused Beshir of genocide and war crimes.

Protesters threw rocks at police, who responded with tear gas and batons.

Students belonging to the ruling National Congress Party joined the police in some of the clashes.

The official Suna news agency later announced in statement that the president had dismissed the university director, Mustafa Idris al-Bashir.

Security officials prevented some journalists from covering the protests, which took place in response to Internet calls for peaceful anti-government rallies across Sudan.

Soldiers detained an AFP cameraman for two hours, and around 10 journalists working for local and international media were stopped and ordered not to report on the demonstrations.