Sudan arrests dozens of political activists

CAIRO — Sudan has arrested scores of activists, lawyers and journalists over the past two weeks in a crackdown coinciding with the anniversary of massive protests against the lifting of fuel subsidies, activists and rights groups said Wednesday.

Nearly 200 people were killed during the demonstrations a year ago, according to rights groups, in the worst violence in the capital since President Omar Bashir came to power in 1989. Some of the protests called for Al Bashir's ouster, while the president accused the demonstrators of using "recent economic decisions" as a pretext to topple the government.

The government flooded the capital with security forces in the days leading up to the anniversary of the demonstrations, and no major protests were held. A senior official from Sudan's ruling party told state media that the security forces deployed in order to provide "reassurance" and that last year's killings were "made by mistake".