KHARTOUM, 20 September 2021, (TON): A protest leader said “dozens of demonstrators in Sudan have blocked key roads and a crucial port in the country’s east in protest at parts of a peace deal with rebel groups.”

Last year, several rebel groups signed a landmark accord with the transitional government which came to power shortly after the April 2019 ouster of long-time autocrat Omar Al-Bashir.

Protest leader Sayed Abuamnah said “we’ve blocked the (main) road connecting Port Sudan with the rest of the country since Friday as well as the main container and oil export terminals.”

Beja tribes people in eastern Sudan have criticized the fragile peace deal saying it does not represent them.

Port Sudan in the Red Sea state is the country’s main seaport and a vital trade hub for its crippled economy dependent on exports.

The protests come as Sudan grapples with deep economic woes left in the wake of Bashir’s ouster, whose three-decade iron-fisted rule was marked by prolonged US sanctions.

Abuamnah added “the closure will not be lifted until our demands to nullify the parts about east Sudan in the peace deal are met.”