Protests Close Airport, Isolate Sudan Capital

Crowds protesting price increases resumed demonstrations in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum today and the country became further isolated from the world with the closing of the airport. President Jaafar Numeiri cut short his visit abroad to handle the crisis.

In London, the Foreign Office said Khartoum’s airport had been closed but for the most part the capital of the North African nation was quiet, despite an ongoing general strike by doctors, lawyers, bank employees, airline staffers and engineers.

Reports to the State Department in Washington later in the day indicated that all flights between Khartoum and Cairo had been canceled.

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum reported that demonstrations demanding Numeiri’s resignation continued today “and are still peaceful in the sense police are using restraint and there is no burning or rioting.” A State Department official said today’s protests “appear to be more political.”

An Egypt Air flight from Cairo returned to its base early today after being unable to contact the control tower in Khartoum. Another flight expected from Khartoum failed to arrive. A British Airways flight from London was diverted from Khartoum to Luxor in southern Egypt for the same reason.

Sudanese Embassy officials in Nairobi, Kenya, said there were no new reports of violence in Khartoum, which was cut off from communication through international telephone or telex lines.

Numeiri, in the United States to discuss increased financial aid, said in an interview in the El-Sharq El-Awsat daily, based in London, that he will return home on Saturday.

He had been scheduled to arrive in Egypt on Sunday for a brief visit.