SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Sudan Protesters, Devastated but Defiant, Regroup Underground After Crackdown

9/6/19: New York Times – Sudan Protesters, Devastated but Defiant, Regroup Underground After Crackdown, by Declan Walsh

 Declan Walsh’s feature piece reports that Sudan’s revolutionaries, now forced underground due to the Rapid Support Forces “iron grip” on Khartoum, are facing “formidable forces.”

 Walsh highlights Himedti and his RSF’s Saudi and Emirati patrons, “who have lavished him with money, weapons and advice.” Siddig Abufawaz, a former airline pilot now in the opposition, said that Saudi and Emirati cargo planes have landed at Khartoum airport in recent weeks, apparently bearing military materiel.

 Walsh also states that the internet blackout is hurting Sudanese revolutionaries “badly,” with dentist  Ahmed Babikir saying “[the regime] don’t want the truth to be shown to the world.”

 Walsh concludes by noting “cracks” among the protesters, with some criticising their leaders for failing to negotiate a power-sharing deal with the military, and others blaming themselves for not foreseeing the crackdown from Himedti and the RSF.