Anti-government protests continued in Sudan on Thursday with demonstrators rallying in support of millions affected by conflicts.
Deadly protests that erupted in Sudan on December 19 over a decision to triple the price of bread have spread across the country and escalated into calls for President Omar al-Bashir to step down after 30 years of iron-fisted rule.
Hundreds of protesters chanting "freedom, peace, justice," the rallying cry of the campaign, demonstrated in central Khartoum but were quickly confronted by riot police with tear gas, witnesses said.
"Police have arrested many young men and women downtown," a witness said without revealing his name for security reasons.
Police later broke up the rally, but demonstrators took to the streets in the northern district of Bahari, witnesses said, adding that they too were confronted with tear gas.
Crowds of people living in a camp for the displaced in conflict-wracked Darfur in western Sudan staged a rally inside the camp, residents said.
"The residents of camp Zam Zam, mostly young men and women, are chanting anti-government slogans in the center of the camp," resident Mohamed Issa told AFP by telephone.
"We believe that people across the country are demonstrating on behalf of us, the victims of war in Darfur."
Khartoum on Thursday threatened to take legal action against campaigners spearheading the protests against Bashir, accusing them of threatening national security.
The warning by acting Information Minister Mamun Hassan came a day after some of the leaders of the protest movement vowed to push on with their "uprising" against Bashir's rule of three decades.
"The government will take legal action against those who are calling for violence, threatening national security and pushing the country into danger," he said in a statement.
On Wednesday protest campaigners held their first news conference since deadly protests erupted in December, at the offices of the main opposition National Umma Party.
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) that is spearheading the protests and its allies ruled out negotiations with Bashir's government and called on other political groups to join their movement by signing a "Document for Freedom and Change".
Protests first erupted on December 19 in the farming town of Atbara after a hike in bread prices, but soon spread to cities and towns across the east African country.
Officials say 30 people have died in protest-related violence so far, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed.
Bashir has remained defiant in the face of protests, promising to promote development and peace across the country, including in conflict-hit states.
