Khartoum — Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir told a rally of thousands of supporters on Wednesday he would stay in power, as protesters massed a few kilometres away calling for him to quit over an economic crisis. A defiant Bashir challenged his opponents to beat him at the ballot box and blamed unnamed foreign powers for provoking weeks of almost daily protests prompted by bread and currency shortages. "To those who are seeking power, there is one way which is in the ballot box, through free and fair elections," said Bashir, who opened and closed his address dancing to patriotic music and waving his cane in the air. Across the River Nile in Omdurman, witnesses said security forces used tear gas to break up a demonstration of more than 200 people, some of whom chanted: "Freedom, freedom, peaceful against the thieves". Witnesses said policemen chased demonstrators into side roads, from where they regrouped to resume their protest. Hundreds also blocked a main road, witnesses said. Pro...
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