Sudanese Dodge Crackdowns Before ‘Million March’ Sunday

From a new post by Max Bearak, the Washington Post Africa bureau chief based in Nairobi:

Ahead of a giant protest planned for Sunday in Sudan’s capital, the Sons of Shambhat, a group of men from one of the city’s most rebellious neighborhoods, wanted to discuss the best ways to avoid arrest.

Right as they were about to gather, the meeting’s host was whisked away by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, a paramilitary group.

Then, at a new meeting spot, four pickup trucks loaded with soldiers rolled up. The men scattered out into a maze of dirt streets and brick houses, ducking into whatever door was open.

Sunday’s march could become a pivotal moment in Sudan’s six-month-old uprising that brought down longtime ruler Omar Hassan al-Bashir but is struggling against a military council that took his place.