A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, June 22, 2012

Sudan's Week of Protests

Protests against the government of Sudan over economic austerity are entering their second week with today's protests after Friday prayers.The ongoing wave of protests is in response to an austerity regime imposed to make up for the loss of oil revenues when South Sudan seceded, but the fierce response of security forces has exacerbated the situation.

The arrest and subsequent release yesterday of Bloomberg reporter Salma El Wardany, an Egyptian journalist working for a US agency, attracted international attention to the situation, which is starting to look like a classic "Arab spring" scenario, with demonstrators responding to harsh repression by continuing protest.

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