A Sudanese court Tuesday ordered the detention of Al Jazeera Arabia bureau chief Mohamed Samir, hours after police launched a crackdown on protests in the capital of Khartoum.
Supporters and family members of Mr. Samir, said he is not detained. Al Jazeera has not responded to multiple requests for comment. The network has previously stated that Samir is based in Beirut, Lebanon.
Thousands of Sudanese defied orders to end protests over rising food and fuel prices by staging demonstrations in several other cities. One person was killed after he was allegedly wounded by a bullet in Khartoum.
Early Tuesday morning, police fired live ammunition into the air and used tear gas to disperse protesters marching in central Khartoum.
Some protesters attacked a state television building while others went to the offices of several government departments in Kober.
Police arrested key opposition activists and opposition parties on Monday and Tuesday, according to activists.
Human Rights Watch said authorities had detained 13 activists, according to the group’s senior Sudan researcher, Maria Burnett.
She said Al Jazeera political analyst Muhammad Al Salhi was also arrested and taken to a detention facility in Khartoum, the capital. Ms. Burnett added, while he was incarcerated on Tuesday night he called her repeatedly and said they had “worked out a deal.”
The legal head of the National Democratic Institute Sudan Programme, Hella Kanbar, was arrested on Monday, said Ms. Burnett.
“Hala is in strong legal and political opposition and has been a very influential figure in opposition movements and the civil society movement in Sudan,” she said.
Sudanese authorities arrested Mr. Al Salhi in 2013 for his criticism of an Islamist-led government. Mr. Al Salhi was one of nine protesters arrested by security forces in Khartoum on Jan. 5 when four people were killed by security forces firing in the air.
There were at least 117 reported arrests as of Wednesday morning and security forces were also seen randomly beating people with batons at an opposition rally in the capital on Tuesday, according to Ms. Burnett.
Read more from the New York Times here.
Fox News’ Jacob Soboroff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.