STATE DEPARTMENT NEWS BRIEFING - TechMIS

STATE DEPARTMENT
                   NEWS BRIEFING
                            Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
                                           By TechMIS
                                     www.TechMIS.com

                                      Mobile User Copy

TO:        State Department & Staff
DATE:      Sunday, January 30, 2022 9:00 PM ET

State Department News

[Russia] Top Russian and U.S. officials likely to meet next week amid escalating
threat to Ukraine
The Washington Post [1/30/2022 1:28 AM, Rachel Pannett, Robyn Dixon, Kareem Fahim
and Shane Harris, 12515K, Neutral] reports as Russia continues to mass forces on its
border with Ukraine, top Russian and U.S. diplomats are likely to meet next week in an
effort to defuse the widening crisis, a senior State Department official said on Sunday.
Referring to written responses Washington and NATO delivered last week to the Kremlin’s
demands for security guarantees, Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political
affairs, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation:” “We’ve heard some signs that the Russians are
interested in engaging on that proposal. Including the fact that Secretary [of State Antony]
Blinken and [Russian] Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov will likely speak this week.” The two
officials met earlier this month in Geneva but failed to resolve their countries’ differences
over Ukraine, where leaders have sought to tamp down U.S. warnings of an imminent
Russian invasion and avoid a public panic. “We want to settle these issues through
diplomacy,” Nuland said. Russian President Vladmir has "given himself that option, but he’s
also given himself the option of a major invasion. So we have to be ready for that.”
Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said at a news conference Friday that the evidence of an
imminent invasion was insufficient, accusing his Western counterparts of inciting “panic.”
Asked about Zelensky’s complaints on Sunday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. envoy
to the United Nations, said the Biden administration has been trying to ensure that Ukraine
is “prepared” in the event of an attack. “We’ve seen the Russian playbook before,” she said.
“They are using disinformation. They’re encouraging Ukrainians not to worry about an

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attack. But we know that the attack is possible. You don’t amass 100,000 troops if you don’t
have intentions to use them,” she said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” A
diplomatic resolution to the crisis would need to include “Russia pulling troops back and
coming to the diplomatic table and taking with U.S., Ukrainians NATO allies about security
concerns,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “We’ve made clear that we’re prepared to address our
concerns, Ukrainian concerns and Russian concerns,” she said. “But it cannot be done on
the battlefield.” The United States has requested a meeting of the United Nations Security
Council on Monday to discuss Russia’s military buildup, as it pushes for a diplomatic
solution to the standoff. Moscow has described the meeting as a “PR stunt,” but U.N.
diplomats expressed confidence that any Russian bid to stop the meeting would be voted
down, Reuters reported.

[Russia] World Leaders Toughen Rhetoric, Preparations in Support of Ukraine as
Russia Seeks Clarification from NATO
The New York Times [1/30/2022 2:14 PM, Anna Schaverien, 25484K, Neutral] reports
British lawmakers will be asked to consider legislation this week that would let ministers
impose a wider range of sanctions against Russia should it move against Ukraine, the
British foreign secretary said Sunday. The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, outlined the plan in
an interview with the broadcaster Sky News, presenting it as part of a broad range of efforts
to deter further aggression from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Britain is already
supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine and has offered to increase its troop deployments
elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Also on Sunday, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov,
said that Russia would seek clarity from NATO on its intentions days after the United States
and its allies delivered a formal rejection to Moscow’s demands that NATO retreat from
Eastern Europe and bar Ukraine from joining the alliance. Mr. Lavrov’s comments in an
interview with Russia’s main government television channel suggested that while Moscow is
displeased — as expected — with the Western response, there may still be a flicker of hope
for further diplomacy. But if diplomacy fails, Ms. Truss said, the British legislation will give
the country more punitive options, so there will be “nowhere to hide” for oligarchs or “any
company of interest to the Kremlin and the regime in Russia.” Britain has long been a
financial hub for Russia’s wealthy and well connected, with one British parliamentary report
describing London as a “laundromat” for illicit Russian money. While the British Parliament
typically takes weeks or months to pass a bill, emergency procedures allow it to legislate in
as little as a day under some circumstances. Ms. Truss said Britain would rule nothing out
and would “look at every option” to support Ukraine, as the British government and its allies
pursue diplomacy at the same time as developing economically punitive measures that
might persuade Mr. Putin not to invade. Biden administration officials reiterated on Sunday
that the United States believes a Russian invasion is “imminent,” even if Ukraine has been
trying to play down the crisis. “We have been nothing but clear and transparent about our
concerns here at the Pentagon over the rapid buildup for the last few months around the
border with Ukraine and in Belarus,” the Pentagon’s press secretary, John F. Kirby, said on
“Fox News Sunday.” The AP [1/30/2022 12:22 PM, Jim Heintz, 2164K, Negative] reports
the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations vowed that the U.N. Security Council will press
Russia hard in a Monday session to discuss Moscow’s massing of troops near Ukraine and
rising fears it is planning an invasion. “Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to
explain themselves,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and the other
council members on ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday. “We’re going into the room
prepared to listen to them, but we’re not going to be distracted by their propaganda.” The
head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday rejected Western warnings
about an invasion. “At this time, they’re saying that Russia threatens Ukraine — that’s

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completely ridiculous,” he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. “We don’t
want war and we don’t need it at all.” NATO “has already come close to Ukraine. They also
want to drag this country there,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday,
“although everyone understands that Ukraine is not ready and could make no contribution
to strengthening NATO security.” Lavrov also underlined Russia’s contention that NATO
expansion is a threat, saying the alliance has engaged in offensive actions outside its
member countries. “It is difficult to call it defensive. Do not forget that they bombed
Yugoslavia for almost three months, invaded Libya, violating the U.N. Security Council
resolution, and how they behaved in Afghanistan,” he said. Bloomberg [1/30/2022 5:22 AM,
Alexander Nicholson, 8629K, Negative] reports Moscow is asking NATO members and
countries in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to clarify how they
intend to fulfill OSCE obligations not to strengthen security at the expense of the security of
others, Lavrov said on Russian state television. Their answers to the Foreign Ministry’s
official request will be “key to determining our future proposals, which we will report to
Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Lavrov said. Reuters [1/30/2022 1:05 PM, Kylie
Maclellan and Maxim Rodionov, 14195K, Neutral] reports Europe needs to diversify its
energy supplies, the head of NATO said on Sunday, as Britain warned it was "highly likely"
that Russia, the continent’s biggest natural gas supplier, was looking to invade Ukraine. In a
sign of the tensions, Canada said on Sunday it was temporarily withdrawing non-essential
personnel from its embassy in Ukraine but added that the embassy would remain open.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to speak to Putin by phone next week.
Stepping up diplomatic efforts after facing criticism for not doing enough, he said he had
ordered the military to prepare to help strengthen Europe’s borders. Stoltenberg said NATO
had no plans to deploy combat troops to non-NATO member Ukraine in the event of a
Russian invasion, adding "We are focusing on providing support".

[Russia] Senate Nearing Deal on Bipartisan Legislation Targeting Russia Should
They Invade Ukraine
The Wall Street Journal [1/30/2022 1:01 PM, Courtney McBride, Neutral] reports bipartisan
legislation aimed at striking the Russian economy if President Vladimir Putin invades
Ukraine is nearing completion in the U.S. Senate, key senators said Sunday. The legislation
under negotiation among members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and others
would target major Russian banks, hit Russians’ savings and pensions and limit the market
for Russia’s sovereign debt, among other elements, Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez (D.,
N.J.) said Sunday. The legislation appears to reflect measures being considered by
President Biden’s administration, which administration officials said would target several of
Russia’s largest government-owned banks, ban trade in new issues of Russian sovereign
debt and apply export controls across key sectors. Mr. Menendez and ranking Republican
Sen. Jim Risch (R., Idaho) said Sunday on CNN that they are close to a final bill. “I would
describe it as that we are on the one-yard line,” Mr. Menendez said. “And, hopefully, we will
be able to conclude successfully.” The chairman, who previously drafted legislation that
included what he terms “the mother of all sanctions,” described “an incredible bipartisan
resolve for support of Ukraine and an incredibly strong bipartisan resolve to have severe
consequences for Russia if it invades Ukraine, and, in some cases, for what it has already
done.” Victoria Nuland, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said on CBS that the
Biden administration was working closely with lawmakers on the legislation, which she
predicted would align well with the efforts of other countries in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization. “With regard to this package of sanctions, you know, deterrence is best when
there’s a little bit of strategic ambiguity around exactly what we are going to do,” Ms. Nuland
said. “If we put them on the table now, then Russia will be able to start mitigating.” Reuters

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[1/30/2022 12:55 PM, Doina Chiacu, 5304K, Neutral] reports there is strong bipartisan
resolve to support Ukraine and to punish Russia if it invades Ukraine, Menendez said.
Asked if an agreement will be reached this week, he said, "I believe that we will get there."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy supports immediate action and has criticized the
West for waiting to impose more damaging sanctions. The Senate bill would target the most
significant Russian banks and Russian sovereign debt, as well as provide more U.S. military
assistance to Ukraine. Some of the sanctions in the bill could take effect before any
invasion because of what Russia has already done, Menendez said, including cyber attacks
on Ukraine, false flag operations and efforts to undermine the Ukrainian government
internally. More crushing sanctions would follow if Russia invades, he said, "but the lethal
aid would travel no matter what." Ukraine is asking for both actions - sanctions right now
and more after any invasion, Kyiv’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova,
said on CBS’ "Face the Nation." Markarova downplayed the simmering tensions laid bare
on Friday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused the United States of
fueling panic over a possible Russian invasion. “There is no friction," she said. "We can
have difference of opinions" but the United States is Ukraine’s strategic partner and friend
and relations are at their highest level in decades. Axios [1/30/2022 11:24 AM, Staff,
14195K, Neutral] reports if Russia invades Ukraine, the Biden administration will consider
sanctions and other economic consequences "the likes of which we have not looked at
before," Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday.

[Ukraine] Ukraine’s ambassador to U.S. says "we cannot afford to panic" over
Russian aggression
CBS News [1/30/2022 11:16 AM, Melissa Quinn, 14195K, Neutral] reports Ukraine’s
Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said Sunday that Ukraine "cannot afford to
panic" over the ongoing crisis with Russia and its military buildup along Ukraine’s borders,
but is aware of Moscow’s capabilities. "For eight years, we are at war and we are defending
our country," Markarova said in an interview on "Face the Nation," referencing Russia’s
invasion and occupation of Crimea in 2014. "At the same time, in order to defend our
country, we cannot afford to panic. We have to get ready, all of us, not only our military, our
very capable military and veterans, but also all civilians." While the Biden administration and
U.S. allies have warned a Russian invasion of Ukraine is "imminent" given the build-up
along Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called the
escalation by Russia an act of "psychological pressure." A White House official, though,
said "at the same time [Zelenskyy is] downplaying the risk of invasion, he’s asking for
hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons to defend against one." Markarova rejected that
notion, and said Ukraine instead knows "what Russia is capable of." "Let’s be very clear
here, we know who the aggressor is. Everyone knows who the aggressor is. It’s Russia,"
she said. Markarova said Ukraine is also looking for assistance from the U.S. with building
up its defense capabilities, which she said is "not only for Ukraine. It’s for European
security." "It’s not fighting for Ukraine only, it’s actually fighting for values and principles that
we all share, that every country has the right to be sovereign, that every country has the
right to be free and that all nations have the right to choose how they want to live," she said.
"We’re fighting for our independence and if Ukraine will be further attacked by Russia, of
course they will not stop after Ukraine."

[United Kingdom] Northern Ireland marks 50 years since Bloody Sunday; Ireland
Calls on Britain to Ensure Justice

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The AP [1/30/2022 12:11 PM, Staff, 2164K, Negative] reports hundreds of people gathered
Sunday in Northern Ireland to mark 50 years since “Bloody Sunday,” one of the deadliest
days in the conflict known as The Troubles. Thirteen people were killed and 15 others
wounded when British soldiers fired on civil rights protesters on Jan. 30, 1972, in the city of
Derry, also known as Londonderry. Relatives of those killed and injured half a century ago
took part in a remembrance walk Sunday, retracing the steps of the original march. Crowds
gathered at the Bloody Sunday Monument, where political leaders including Irish Premier
Micheal Martin laid wreaths in a ceremony. The names of those who were killed and
wounded were read out during the 45-minute memorial service. Britain’s government
apologized in 2010 after an official inquiry found that the soldiers fired without justification
on unarmed, fleeing civilians and then lied about it for decades. The report refuted an initial
investigation that took place soon after the slayings that said the soldiers had been
defending themselves against Irish Republican Army bombers and gunmen. Prime Minister
Boris Johnson told Parliament on Wednesday that Bloody Sunday was “one of the darkest
days in our history” and that the country “must learn from the past.” Reuters [1/30/2022
12:59 PM, Clodagh Kilcoyne, 14195K, Negative] reports Ireland on Sunday called on Britain
to ensure justice for the families of 13 peaceful protesters shot dead by its soldiers on
"Bloody Sunday" in 1972 as thousands marked the 50th anniversary of one of the defining
days of the Northern Ireland conflict. The British government in 2010 apologised for the
"unjustified and unjustifiable" killings of 13 Catholic civil rights protesters by British soldiers
in the Northern Irish city of Londonderry on Jan. 30, 1972 — and of a 14th who died later of
his wounds. None of those responsible for the shootings has been convicted and last July
British prosecutors said the only British soldier charged with murder will not face trial - a
decision that is being challenged by relatives. "There should be a route to justice," Irish
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told state broadcaster RTE after laying a wreath and
meeting with relatives of the victims. "As somebody said, our children were buried 50 years
ago but we still haven’t laid them to rest ... because we don’t have justice," he said.

[China] Inside Biden aides’ China spat
Axios [1/30/2022 9:32 AM, Hans Nichols, 526K, Neutral] reports U.S. Trade Representative
Katherine Tai is working to repair her relationship with National Security Adviser Jake
Sullivan after a Situation Room confrontation in which she accused him — in front of
colleagues — of undermining her in the press, people familiar with the matter tell Axios. The
rare window on personal clashes inside the Biden White House also illuminates the tension
between the president’s trade and national security advisers about how and when to
execute aspects of their China strategy. The dispute centers more on tactics and turf, and is
unlikely to derail Biden’s pursuit of a digital trade deal with Indo-Pacific allies after the
Trump administration scuttled Obama-era plans for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). But
the heated confrontation shows how future debates can take an ad hominem turn. In a twist,
Tai’s chief of staff, Nora Todd, is leaving her post to start a new position Monday — on
Sullivan’s staff at the National Security Council. “Katherine and I are all-good — not
Washington all-good — regular all-good. The only beef we deal with is beef for export,”
Sullivan told Axios. Tai said: “Jake is a critical partner in delivering on the president’s vision
for a worker-centered trade policy that yields results for ordinary Americans.”

[China] US sends Osprey to South China Sea on crashed F-35C jet salvage mission,
Chinese think tank says on Twitter (Yahoo News/South China Morning Post)
Yahoo News/South China Morning Post [1/30/2022 4:30 AM, Staff, 14195K, Neutral] reports
the US has sent at least four military aircraft to recover the top-secret components of its

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crashed F-35C fighter jet in the South China Sea, a Beijing-based think tank said. "[Salvage
work] for the crashed F-35C seems to be beginning" the SCS Probing Initiative (SCSPI)
tweeted on Saturday, citing satellite images. This comes after the US Navy revealed last
Monday that an F-35C Lightning II — its most advanced stealth fighter jet — had fallen into
the sea after a "landing mishap" on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during routine
operations. At least four US Air Force CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, believed to have
been deployed from American bases in Japan and the Philippines, were spotted "heading to
the area where the carrier exercises had taken place," SCSPI said in its Twitter post. Earlier
on Saturday, the Japanese Coast Guard issued a navigational warning that salvage
operations were being carried out in an area in the northern part of the South China Sea
"until further notice." This comes days after a photo of an F-35 floating on the water with an
open cockpit canopy appeared on Reddit and soon began to be circulated online. On
Friday, the US Navy confirmed that the leaked photo — and a related video shared on
Twitter — did show the F-35C hitting the USS Carl Vinson flight deck and floating in the
South China. Seven military personnel, including the pilot who ejected safely, were injured
in the incident. The US Navy said it was "making recovery operations arrangements" for the
stricken aircraft.

[North Korea] North Korea says tested Hwasong-12 missile, took pictures from space
Reuters [1/30/2022 4:12 PM, Josh Smith, 5304K, Neutral] reports North Korea confirmed on
Monday it had tested a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday,
according to state news agency KCNA, the first time a nuclear-capable missile of that size
has been launched since 2017. The launch was first reported by South Korean and
Japanese authorities on Sunday. Analysts and officials said the test appeared to involve an
intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which North Korea has not tested since 2017
when it suspended testing its largest missiles and its nuclear weapons. “The inspection
firing test was conducted for the purpose of selectively inspecting the ground-to-ground mid-
range long-range ballistic missile Hwasong-12 and verifying the overall accuracy of this
weapon system,” KCNA said. North Korea has previously said the Hwasong-12 can carry a
“large-size heavy nuclear warhead.” KCNA said the missile launch was conducted in such a
way as to ensure the safety of neighbouring countries, and that the test warhead was fitted
with a camera that took photos while it was in space. On Sunday South Korean President
Moon Jae-in said the launch takes North Korea a step closer to fully scrapping a self-
imposed moratorium on testing its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Kim has said he is no longer bound by that moratorium, which included a stop to nuclear
weapons tests and was announced in 2018 amid a flurry of diplomacy and summits with
then-U.S. President Donald Trump. North Korea suggested this month it could restart those
testing activities because the United States and its allies had shown no sign of dropping
their “hostile policies.”

[Taiwan] Taiwan’s President, VP Express Thanks to US, Democratic Nations For
Support
Reuters [1/30/2022 4:26 AM, Ben Blanchard, 5304K, Neutral] reports Taiwan Vice
President William Lai used his final day in the United States to repeat an accusation that
China blocked the island from obtaining COVID-19 vaccines last year, and to thank a U.S.
lawmaker for her role in donating the inoculations. Last May, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen
accused China of blocking a deal with Germany’s BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) for COVID-19
vaccines, after Beijing offered the shots to the island via a Chinese company just as Taiwan
was dealing with a rise in domestic infections. Beijing has angrily denied trying to stop

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Taiwan getting vaccines, and also offered Chinese-developed shots which the island
rejected, citing safety concerns. China claims Taiwan as its own territory. Less than two
weeks after Tsai’s comments, Senator Tammy Duckworth, visiting Taipei with two other
U.S. lawmakers, said the United States would donate 750,000 vaccine doses to Taiwan.
Speaking to the Illinois Democrat during a stop over in San Francisco while on the way back
to Taiwan from Honduras, Lai offered his thanks. Lai said he was "especially grateful to her
last year when Taiwan was unable to obtain vaccines due to the China factor," Taiwan’s
presidential office said, citing the de facto U.S. ambassador to Washington Hsiao Bi-khim,
who is accompanying Lai. "She not only actively advocated that the Biden administration
should provide vaccines to Taiwan, but also personally went to Taiwan to announce that the
United States would donate Taiwan vaccines." In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry said Lai’s
accusation was "total fiction", calling it a "malicious slandering and smearing of the true face
of the mainland." Reuters [1/30/2022 5:08 AM, Ben Blanchard, 5304K, Positive] further
reports Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen thanked democratic nations for their support of the
island in her Lunar New Year message on Sunday and pledged to "stride out" into the
world, sounding a defiant note in the face of unrelenting Chinese pressure. In a short pre-
recorded video message a day before the eve of Lunar New Year on Monday, the formal
start of the most important holiday in the Chinese-speaking world, Tsai expressed
appreciation for growing international support for Taiwan. "I want to especially thank all
democratic partners for their support to Taiwan over the past year," she said. "We will
continue to deepen exchanges with all countries and stride out into the world."

[Afghanistan] Biden calls on Taliban to release American hostage
Reuters [1/30/2022 3:17 PM, Doina Chiacu, 5304K, Negative] reports U.S. President Joe
Biden on Sunday called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to release a U.S. civil engineer who
was abducted two years ago and is believed to be the last American hostage held by the
Taliban. Mark Frerichs, a 59-year-old U.S. Navy veteran from Lombard, Illinois, who worked
in Afghanistan for a decade on development projects. He was kidnapped a month before
the February 2020 U.S. troop pullout deal was signed and was transferred to the Haqqani
network, a brutal Taliban faction accused of some of the deadliest attacks of the war.
Monday marks his second year in captivity. "Threatening the safety of Americans or any
innocent civilians is always unacceptable, and hostage-taking is an act of particular cruelty
and cowardice," Biden said in a statement. "The Taliban must immediately release Mark
before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not
negotiable." Frerichs’ family has criticized the U.S. government for not pressing harder to
secure his release. Last week, his sister, Charlene Cakora, made a personal plea to Biden
in a Washington Post opinion piece titled, "President Biden, please bring home my brother,
the last American held hostage in Afghanistan." The United States has raised Frerich’s case
in every meeting with the Taliban, the State Department said in a statement. "We call on the
Taliban to release him. We will continue working to bring him home," U.S. Secretary of
State Antony Blinken added in a Twitter post.

[Congo] DRC court sentences 49 to death over 2017 killing of UN experts
CNN [1/30/2022 11:54 AM, Kareem El Damanhoury, Wayne Chang and Mia Alberti, 5705K,
Negative] reports a military court has sentenced 49 people to death -- while one officer will
receive 10 years in prison -- following an investigation into the 2017 murders of two UN
experts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Human Rights Watch. One of
the men was sentenced to death for "criminal conspiracy, participation in an insurrectionist
movement, terrorism and the war crime of murder," the president of the military court said in

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the conviction. HRW, however, says the court and Congolese State have failed to
investigate the "higher up the broader chain of command overlooking state responsibility,"
and that "more questions than answers remain" despite Saturday’s verdict. "The court did
not address accountability higher up the chain of command, pursuing a storyline that only
blames militia for the murders rather than examining evidence pointing to the role of state
officials. The authorities should investigate the critical role that government and security
officials may have played in the murders", HRW told CNN in an email. The US Ambassador
to the DRC, Mike Hammer, tweeted the trial was "an important first step in uncovering the
truth" but called on Congolese authorities to continue their investigation "into all possible
leads for justice".

[Sudan] One Killed as Thousands of Sudanese Protesters Take to the Streets
The AP [1/30/2022 7:24 AM, Samy Magdy, 2164K, Negative] reports thousands of
protesters took to the streets of Sudan’s capital and other cities across the country Sunday
for the latest in a months-long string of demonstrations denouncing an October military coup
that plunged the country into turmoil. At least one person was killed when security forces
violently dispersed protesters, a medical group said. Protesters, mostly young men and
women, marched in the streets of Khartoum and other cities, demanding an end to the
military’s takeover. They called for a fully civilian government to lead the country’s now-
stalled transition to democracy. The coup has upended Sudan’s transition to democratic
rule after three decades of repression and international isolation under autocratic President
Omar al-Bashir. The African nation has been on a fragile path to democracy since a popular
uprising forced the military to remove al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.
The protests are called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Resistance
Committees, which were the backbone of the uprising against al-Bashir and relentless anti-
coup protests in the past three months. Footage circulated online showed people beating
drums and chanting anti-coup slogans in the streets of Khartoum and its twin city
Omdurman. Protesters were also seen carrying Sudanese flags and other flags with photos
of protesters reportedly slain by security forces printed on them. They marched towards the
presidential palace, an area in the capital that has seen deadly clashes between protesters
and security forces in previous rounds of demonstrations. Reuters [1/30/2022 8:46 AM,
Khalid Abdelaziz, 5304K, Negative] reports one protester was killed as security forces
confronted thousands of people protesting against military rule in Sudan’s capital Khartoum
on Sunday, medics linked to the demonstrations said. The 27-year-old, Mohamed Yousef
Ismail, was hit in the chest, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) said.
There was no immediate statement from the military rulers who have been trying to contain
a series of protests across Sudan since they took power on Oct. 25. Security forces fired
tear gas to try to disperse the crowds who were marching in defiance of a ban on
demonstrations, a Reuters reporter said.

{End of Report}

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