Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Wednesday that the door of dialogue would remain open to young protesters in the country. Those who took to the street represent a generation growing up under oil prosperity and shocked by the economic crisis, said al-Bashir during a meeting with the press in Khartoum. Viewing the separation of South Sudan as the main reason behind the economic crisis in Sudan, al-Bashir said that accumulated government measures caused frustration among the Sudanese youth. Sudan has been beset by conflict for most of its independent history. Under the terms of a peace agreement in 2005, its southern states seceded, forming the Republic of South Sudan in 2011. The secession of South Sudan induced multiple economic shocks. The most important and immediate was the loss of the oil revenue that accounted for more than half of Sudans government revenues and 95 percent of its exports, according to the World Bank. Sudans need of foreign currencies amounts to 11 billion U.S. dollars a year, and the countrys export revenues amount to around 4 billion dollars, al-Bashir said. Meanwhile, al-Bashir issued a decision to release all the journalists detained in the wake of the protests in Sudan. Since Dec. 19, various areas in Sudan, including Khartoum, have been witnessing popular protests over the deteriorating economic conditions and price hikes of daily necessities. At least 30 people have been killed during the protests, according to government statistics. Xinhua
