By Mohammed Amin  

KHARTOUM 

A countrywide state of emergency declared last week is not aimed at citizens or anti-government demonstrators, Sudanese First Vice-President Awad Ibn Oaf said Wednesday. 

After a meeting with President Omar al-Bashir, Ibn Oaf told reporters in Khartoum that the state of emergency -- set to remain in effect for a one-year period -- was aimed at “maintaining security” and “stabilizing the economy”.   

Last week, al-Bashir declared a one-year state of emergency, which includes ten-year jail terms for anyone found guilty of “gathering without official permission”. 

It also bans trading in gold or foreign currencies.  

Meanwhile, protests resumed in Khartoum on Wednesday after a child was reportedly killed by a security vehicle on Tuesday night.  

“Police used teargas to disperse protesters who had staged a sit-in outside Khartoum’s private international hospital,” one witness, preferring anonymity, told Anadolu Agency.  

In a statement, the Sudanese Professional Association said a five-year-old child -- identified as Moayad Yassir Gomma -- had been killed Tuesday evening after being struck by a security vehicle.

The Sudanese authorities, for their part, have yet to release a statement on the child’s reported death.