Al-Jazeera: Bureau chief detained by Sudanese forces

Khartoum: The Qatar-based  satellite news network AlJazeera said Sunday its  bureau chief in Sudan was  detained by security forces,  a day after mass protests  across the country against  last month’s military coup. The network said on Twitter that Sudanese forces  raided the home of El  Musalmi El Kabbashi and  detained him. The development comes after security  forces fired live ammunition and tear gas Saturday  to disperse protesters denouncing the military’s  tightening grip on the  country. The Sudan Doctors  Committee said a 15-yearold protester died Sunday  of gunshot wounds, raising  the death toll to six people. In a later statement, AlJazeera said El Kabbashi  had been arrested at his  home in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. The broadcaster said it held the Sudanese military responsible  for his safety.

Sudanese officials could  not be immediately reached  for comment. Thousands of  pro-democracy protesters  took to the streets across  Sudan on Saturday to rally  against the military coup  last month. The takeover  has drawn international  criticism and massive protests in the streets of the  capital of Khartoum and  elsewhere in the country. The killings Saturday took  place in Khartoum and its  twin city of Omdurman.  The dead included four people killed by gunshots and  one who died from being hit  by a tear gas canister. The  15-year-old who died of his  wounds Sunday brought to  six the number of fatalities, the doctors committee  said. Several other protesters were wounded, including from gunshots, it said.  That brought the tally since  the Oct 26 coup to at least 21  protesters dead. -AP