Sudan shuts down schools, intercut cut, amid prices demos

Sudan on Wednesday shut schools in the capital until the end of the month as demonstrators torched cars near Khartoum airport after three days of deadly rioting over fuel prices.

 

The education ministry said schools in the capital would remain shut until September 30. An AFP correspondent reported several users saying access to the Internet had been cut, but it was not immediately known if this was a fault or a deliberate move on the part of the authorities.

 

On Monday, the government announced steep price rises for petroleum products after suspending subsidies in a bid to reform the economy. Three people have now been killed nationwide -- two of them in the Khartoum area -- since protests broke out against the move on Monday.

 

On Wednesday rioters targeted vehicles in a hotel car park just 500 metres (yards) from the international airport, and a petrol station in the area was also set alight.

 

Police responded with tear gas, the correspondent said, and some 20 protesters were arrested.

 

- Sapa-AFP