Hundreds of workers in Port Sudan are continuing a days-long strike against the transfer of its vital container terminal to a Philippine company, a union leader said Thursday. "For four days now we are on strike and we expect more colleagues to join us," Osman Tahir, member of the port's labour union, told AFP by telephone from the Red Sea city.

The strike at the vital economic hub comes amid weeks of anti-government demonstrations that began in December. Protesters have rallied across the country, including in Port Sudan, accusing President Omar al-Bashir's government of mismanaging the country's economy.

Workers are opposing Khartoum's decision to transfer control of the port's container terminal to a Philippine company, International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI). In July 2018, ICTSI informed the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission that it had won a bid to operate and manage the terminal under a 20-year concession. The company said on its website that the tender process had been led by Sudan's state-run Sea Ports Corporation (SPC) and had attracted bids from several international operators.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019