Date: Jan 24, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Sudan accepted economic aid from UAE, Russia, Turkey KHARTOUM: Sudan, rocked by anti-government protests for over a month, has received economic assistance from the United Arab Emirates and accepted offers of support from Russia and Turkey, Oil Minister Azhari Abdel-Qader said Wednesday. “We received assistance from the United Arab Emirates,” he said. “And Russia and Turkey offered us assistance including fuel, wheat and others, and we accepted it as a normal matter between friendly countries in light of the current circumstances that Sudan is going through.” The minister did not give details on the scale or timing of the support. Sudan has seen near-daily protests since Dec. 19, amid worsening economic conditions and calls for an end to President Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year rule. Bashir met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha Wednesday during his first trip abroad since the protests began. Bashir and Qatar’s emir discussed “the current economic crisis experienced by Sudan and Sudan’s efforts to get out of the crisis and the role of brothers in general, and Qatar in particular, to help Sudan,” Foreign Minister Al-Dirdiri Mohammad Ahmed said. “Qatar reiterated its firm and continuous support for Sudan,” he said, speaking to reporters at Khartoum airport after Bashir’s return from Qatar. The state-run Qatar News Agency said the leaders also discussed cementing peace in Darfur, the western Sudanese region where security forces brutally crushed a rebellion. Sudanese officials had said in December Sheikh Tamim promised in a telephone call that Qatar will “provide all that is needed” to help Sudan get through its crisis. Qatar at the time only acknowledged the phone call took place. That request is likely to involve cash. Sudan lost three quarters of its oil wealth when the south of the country seceded in 2011, plunging the country into its worst economic crisis in decades. A devaluation of the currency in October pushed up prices, but lifting state subsidies on bread last month proved to be the final stroke, sparking the latest bout of unrest. A cash crunch also led to long lines at ATMs and limits on cash withdrawals. Similarly, a fuel shortage meant hourslong waits at gas stations. This led to street protests where at least 40 have been killed in clashes with security forces. Wednesday, the U.S. condemned “the use of violence, including the use of live fire, and the excessive use of tear gas by the Sudanese security forces” during the protests. Separately, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that private Russian companies were training the army in Sudan, confirming for the first time their presence in the country. “According to our information, representatives of Russian private security companies, who have nothing to do with Russian state bodies, really do operate in Sudan,” Maria Zakharova, a ministry spokeswoman told reporters. Zakharova said she was responding to what she called an irresponsible story in the British press which she said had falsely alleged that Russian mercenaries were helping the Sudanese authorities quell the protests. “Their task [of the private security firms] is limited to training staff for the military and law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Sudan,” she said. Official statistics from the Russian Federal Security Service available online show a surge in the number of the Russian citizens who departed for Sudan in late 2017. Two hundred Russians traveled to Sudan in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the data. Prior to that, the highest number of Russians heading to the African country was 76 in any given quarter since 2013, the same data showed.