The protests in Sudan "will not change the government": Bashir

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir appears during a demonstration with his supporters in Green Square in the capital Khartoum on January 9, 2019

The late Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir said on Monday that ongoing protests will not lead to a change in government, while he turned to a demonstration of encouraging supporters in war-ravaged Darfur.

"The demonstrations will not change the government," Bashir told a crowd of supporters gathered in Niyala, the capital of the state of South Darfur, where only a day ago the police had stopped an anti-government demonstration.

"There is only one road to power and this is through the polls: in 2020 the Sudanese people will decide who will govern them," said Bashir, who intends to run for president for the third time in the elections to be held next year.

The deadly protests have rocked Sudan since December, when the angry crowd took to the streets of towns and villages against a government decision to raise the price of bread.

At least 24 people died in the protests, which quickly turned into anti-government demonstrations at the national level, with protesters asking Bashir to resign.

"Sudan has many enemies and those enemies have few people among us who do not want stability and security," Bashir said, waving his factory staff while supporters sang "stay, stay".

"We will not allow anyone to destroy our homeland by looting and burning our property."

In the first days of protests, several buildings and offices of the Bashir government's National Congress party were set on fire in cities and villages.

On Sunday, the first anti-government demonstrations took place in Niyala and El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Bashir is wanted by the Hague International Court for war crimes and genocide allegedly committed in Darfur, where a brutal conflict broke out in 2003.