Police fire teargas at protest in Khartoum suburb

Sudan's Defence Minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein talks to the media after meeting with officials from South Sudan's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, June 28, 2012.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese police fired tear gas at scores of protesters at one of the largest mosques in the capital Khartoum on Friday, a Reuters witness said, as demonstrations over austerity measures regained momentum.

The witness said police had surrounded the Imam Abdel Rahman mosque in the suburb of Omdurman after Friday prayers, and tear gassed protesters who were hurling stones at the security forces. The witness said several people were arrested.

More than 100 people were also protesting outside a mosque in the northern suburb of Bahri, the witness said.

Sudanese activists have dubbed this Friday "Licking the elbow" - a phrase used by the government to mean attempting the impossible.

(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Kevin Liffey)