Saturday 29 January 2005, 21:56 Makka Time, 18:56 GMT
In the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on Saturday, Sudanese police opened fire against demonstrators, killing at least 20 civillians and wounding another 40, according to a local political leader.
Khalil Usman Khalil, a witness, reported to al-Jazeera what happened: "Clashes took place between demonstrators and police, lasting for almost all Friday night." He added, "work at Port Sudan was partially stopped, and almost completely this morning, after renewal of violence, so police resorted to disperse demonstrators."
Abd Allah, another witness, said that about 400 members of the Beja ethnic group were marching to ask the Khartoum government to start talks about sharing the power and the country's resources with the Beja group.
"There was a special police unit that appeared and just opened fire at them before they even moved. They fired at their heads and bodies, not even in the air," said Abd Allah. He added that 3 children were also killed.
Offical sources confirm the story saying that all of the wounds were from bullets.
Il Romanaccio at 11:55 AM