UPDATED
Sudan's capital rocked by fresh street clashes as UN slams coup
A Sudanese youth walks barefoot amidst tear gas fired by security forces in the capital Khartoum, on October 27, 2021, during ongoing demonstrations against a military takeover that has sparked widespread international condemnation. © AFP
Issued on: 28/10/2021 -
Text by:NEWS WIRES
Security forces clashed with protesters Thursday furious over a military coup that derailed a fragile transition to democracy and sparked an international outcry.
At least one protester was killed, according to medics, on the fourth day of street violence in Khartoum, as the UN Security Council called on the military to restore the civilian-led government they toppled on Monday.
The council in a unanimously passed statement expressed "serious concern" about the army power grab in the poverty-stricken Northeast African nation and urged all sides "to engage in dialogue without pre-conditions".
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan -- Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir after huge youth-led protests -- on Monday dissolved the country's fragile government.
While the civilian leader, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, has been under effective house arrest, the capital has been rocked by days of unrest and is bracing for major demonstrations on Saturday.
Roads have been blocked by barricades of rocks, debris and burning car tyres that have sent black smoke billowing into the sky, while most shops have been shuttered in a campaign of civil disobedience.
"We do not want military power, we want a free democratic life in this country," said one protester, who asked not to be named.
Generals' grip on country
The latest street clashes on Thursday rocked the restive eastern Khartoum district of Burri and the Khartoum-North suburb, AFP reporters said.
At least one protester was killed in the clashes in Khartoum-north, a doctor's committee linked to the protest movement said.
That takes to eight the number of protesters killed since Monday's coup, up from a toll of seven given by health officials earlier in the day. Some 170 have been wounded.
Tear gas and rubber-coated bullets were fired at the demonstrators Thursday and witnesses reported several injuries.
The coup was the latest to have hit the country which has experienced only rare democratic interludes since independence in 1956.
The World Bank and the United States have frozen aid and denounced the army's power grab, while the African Union has suspended Sudan's membership over what it termed the "unconstitutional" takeover.
The US, EU, Britain, Norway and other nations in a joint statement stressed their continued recognition of the "prime minister and his cabinet as the constitutional leaders of the transitional government".
Sudan had been ruled since August 2019 by a joint civilian-military council, alongside Hamdok's administration, as part of a transition to full civilian rule.
Recent years saw the country -- formerly blacklisted by the US as a "state sponsor of terrorism" -- make strides toward rejoining the international community, with hopes of boosting aid and investment.
But analysts had said the civilians' role receded before the coup, which the experts view as the generals' way of maintaining their long-held grip on the country.
Tear gas, rubber bullets
Recalling the mass protests of 2019, Sudan's pro-democracy movements have called for "million-strong protests" on Saturday, further heightening tensions.
One protester Thursday described the cat-and-mouse game with security forces, saying that they "have been trying since yesterday morning to remove all our barricades, firing tear gas and rubber bullets".
"But we go and rebuild them as soon as they leave," added the activist, Hatem Ahmed, from Khartoum. "We will only remove the barricades when the civilian government is back."
Burhan, a senior general during Bashir's three-decade-long hardline rule, has sacked six Sudanese ambassadors -- including to the US, EU, China and France -- who have been critical of his actions.
Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi -- whose father was the prime minister ousted by Bashir's 1989 coup -- is one of the few civilian leaders not in detention and has become a leading voice of criticism.
On Thursday, she praised the diplomats -- 68 according to one of them -- who have opposed the takeover, saying that "every free ambassador who opposes the coup is a victory for the revolution".
Security forces clashed with protesters Thursday furious over a military coup that derailed a fragile transition to democracy and sparked an international outcry.
At least one protester was killed, according to medics, on the fourth day of street violence in Khartoum, as the UN Security Council called on the military to restore the civilian-led government they toppled on Monday.
The council in a unanimously passed statement expressed "serious concern" about the army power grab in the poverty-stricken Northeast African nation and urged all sides "to engage in dialogue without pre-conditions".
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan -- Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir after huge youth-led protests -- on Monday dissolved the country's fragile government.
While the civilian leader, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, has been under effective house arrest, the capital has been rocked by days of unrest and is bracing for major demonstrations on Saturday.
Roads have been blocked by barricades of rocks, debris and burning car tyres that have sent black smoke billowing into the sky, while most shops have been shuttered in a campaign of civil disobedience.
"We do not want military power, we want a free democratic life in this country," said one protester, who asked not to be named.
Generals' grip on country
The latest street clashes on Thursday rocked the restive eastern Khartoum district of Burri and the Khartoum-North suburb, AFP reporters said.
At least one protester was killed in the clashes in Khartoum-north, a doctor's committee linked to the protest movement said.
That takes to eight the number of protesters killed since Monday's coup, up from a toll of seven given by health officials earlier in the day. Some 170 have been wounded.
Tear gas and rubber-coated bullets were fired at the demonstrators Thursday and witnesses reported several injuries.
The coup was the latest to have hit the country which has experienced only rare democratic interludes since independence in 1956.
The World Bank and the United States have frozen aid and denounced the army's power grab, while the African Union has suspended Sudan's membership over what it termed the "unconstitutional" takeover.
The US, EU, Britain, Norway and other nations in a joint statement stressed their continued recognition of the "prime minister and his cabinet as the constitutional leaders of the transitional government".
Sudan had been ruled since August 2019 by a joint civilian-military council, alongside Hamdok's administration, as part of a transition to full civilian rule.
Recent years saw the country -- formerly blacklisted by the US as a "state sponsor of terrorism" -- make strides toward rejoining the international community, with hopes of boosting aid and investment.
But analysts had said the civilians' role receded before the coup, which the experts view as the generals' way of maintaining their long-held grip on the country.
Tear gas, rubber bullets
Recalling the mass protests of 2019, Sudan's pro-democracy movements have called for "million-strong protests" on Saturday, further heightening tensions.
One protester Thursday described the cat-and-mouse game with security forces, saying that they "have been trying since yesterday morning to remove all our barricades, firing tear gas and rubber bullets".
"But we go and rebuild them as soon as they leave," added the activist, Hatem Ahmed, from Khartoum. "We will only remove the barricades when the civilian government is back."
Burhan, a senior general during Bashir's three-decade-long hardline rule, has sacked six Sudanese ambassadors -- including to the US, EU, China and France -- who have been critical of his actions.
Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi -- whose father was the prime minister ousted by Bashir's 1989 coup -- is one of the few civilian leaders not in detention and has become a leading voice of criticism.
On Thursday, she praised the diplomats -- 68 according to one of them -- who have opposed the takeover, saying that "every free ambassador who opposes the coup is a victory for the revolution".
Sudan arrests 3 coup critics, fires 6 diplomats as pressure mounts on military
Issued on: 28/10/2021
Sudanese security forces detained three prominent pro-democracy figures overnight, their relatives and other activists said Wednesday, as internal and international pressure mounted on the country's military following its coup. FRANCE 24's Bastien Renouil reports from Khartoum.
Sudan arrests 3 coup critics as pressure mounts on military
By SAMY MAGDY
yesterday
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People burn tires during a protest a day after the military seized power Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. The takeover came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and the pace of Sudan's transition to democracy. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese security forces detained three prominent pro-democracy figures overnight, their relatives and other activists said Wednesday, as internal and international pressure mounted on the country’s military following its coup.
The arrests came as protests denouncing Monday’s takeover continued in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere, and many businesses shut in response to calls for strikes. The coup threatens to halt Sudan’s fitful transition to democracy, which began after the 2019 ouster of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising.
Groups of protesters — in some places, dozens, in others, hundreds — set up barricades of stones on main roads throughout the day. Security forces waded in, chasing demonstrators and dismantling the barriers.
“It looks like a hit-and-run process, they remove, and we build,” activist Nazim Sirag said.
Some protesters were shot and wounded, activists said, though they did not have exact figures. Security forces confronting demonstrators have killed at least six people since Monday and wounded over 140 others, many in critical condition, according to physicians with the Sudan Doctors’ Committee.
Prominent rights defender Tahani Abbas said the pro-democracy movement would continue street protests despite the crackdown.
“We are frustrated,” she said, “but we have no other option but the street.”
In a nod to deteriorating security conditions, the State Department authorized nonessential personnel and the families of all government employees at the U.S Embassy in Khartoum to leave Sudan “due to civil unrest and possible supply shortages.”
The coup came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and pace of Sudan’s moves toward democracy.
The African Union suspended Sudan — an expected move typically taken in the wake of coups. The AU Peace and Security Council said via Twitter on Wednesday that the suspension would remain in place “until the effective restoration of the civilian-led Transitional Authority,” as the deposed government is known.
The AU plans to send a mission to Sudan to hold talks with rival parties.
The World Bank also suspended disbursements for its operations in Sudan, whose economy has been battered by years of mismanagement and sanctions and was dealt a blow when the oil-rich south seceded in 2011 after decades of war, taking with it more than half of public revenues and 95% of oil exports.
“We hope that peace and the integrity of the transition process will be restored, so that Sudan can restart its path of economic development and can take its rightful place in the international financial community,” bank President David Malpass said in a statement.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s now-deposed government had embarked on a series of reforms meant to transform the country’s economy and have the nation rejoin the international community after over two decades of isolation under al-Bashir.
In May, the World Bank said it had allocated $2 billion to Sudan to finance big infrastructure projects along with others over the next 12 months, after the U.S. provided bridge financing of $1.15 billion to Cleese Sudan’s overdue payments to the global financing body.
Following widespread international condemnation, the military allowed Hamdok and his wife to return home on Tuesday night. Hamdok, a former U.N. economist, was detained along with other government officials when the military seized power.
Several Western embassies in Khartoum said Wednesday they will continue to recognize Hamdok and his Cabinet as “the constitutional leaders of the transitional government” of Sudan.
In a joint statement, the embassies of the European Union, the U.S., the U.K., France and several other European countries called for the release of other detained officials and for talks between the military and the pro-democracy movement.
EU foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell tweeted that he spoke with Hamdok on Wednesday to voice his support for the return of a civilian-led transitional government as “the only way forward.”
“We don’t want Sudan to go back to dark hours of its history,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken also spoke with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi about how to support the civilian-led transition to democracy, and condemned the military takeover.
The general leading the coup, Abdel-Fattah Burhan, has pledged to hold elections, as planned, in July 2023, and to appoint a technocrat government in the meantime.
Burhan met Wednesday with Saudi Ambassador Ali Hassan bin Ghafar to discuss “efforts to resolve the crisis through consultations with all concerned parties,” the Sudanese military said.
But critics doubt the military is serious about eventually ceding control, noting that the coup came just weeks before Burhan was supposed to hand over the leadership of the top ruling body, the Sovereign Council, to a civilian. The council, which was made up of both civilian and military leaders but led by a general, was the ultimate authority in the country, while Hamdok’s transitional government ran day-to-day affairs. Both were dissolved in the coup.
Volker Perthes, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, met Wednesday with Burhan and reiterated the U.N.’s call for a return to the transition process under the constitutional document and the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained.
Perthes also met Hamdok in his residence “where he remains under guard,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The activists taken overnight were Ismail al-Taj, a leader of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the group at the forefront of the protests that brought down al-Bashir; Sediq al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, a leader in Sudan’s largest political party, known as Umma and brother of Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi; and Khalid al-Silaik, a former media adviser to the prime minister.
The three have been outspoken critics of the military takeover and have called for protests. Already, tens of thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets, and activists are planning a mass demonstration on Saturday.
Al-Silaik was detained moments after he gave an interview to broadcaster Al-Jazeera, according to his wife, Marwa Kamel. In the interview, he criticized the military’s takeover, calling Hamdok and his government the legitimate administration of Sudan.
“What Gen. Burhan did is a complete coup. ... People will respond to this in the coming days,” al-Silaik said.
Activists Nazim Siraj and Nazik Awad and the Umma party confirmed the arrests of the other two figures.
When Burhan dissolved the Sovereign Council and the transitional government on Monday, he alleged that the military was forced to step in to prevent the country from sliding into civil war. But he had repeatedly warned he wanted to delay the transition to civilian leadership of the council.
Meanwhile, flights in and out of Khartoum’s international airport resumed Wednesday, a day after the country’s Civil Aviation Authority said they would be suspended until Oct. 30.
CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese security forces detained three prominent pro-democracy figures overnight, their relatives and other activists said Wednesday, as internal and international pressure mounted on the country’s military following its coup.
The arrests came as protests denouncing Monday’s takeover continued in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere, and many businesses shut in response to calls for strikes. The coup threatens to halt Sudan’s fitful transition to democracy, which began after the 2019 ouster of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising.
Groups of protesters — in some places, dozens, in others, hundreds — set up barricades of stones on main roads throughout the day. Security forces waded in, chasing demonstrators and dismantling the barriers.
“It looks like a hit-and-run process, they remove, and we build,” activist Nazim Sirag said.
Some protesters were shot and wounded, activists said, though they did not have exact figures. Security forces confronting demonstrators have killed at least six people since Monday and wounded over 140 others, many in critical condition, according to physicians with the Sudan Doctors’ Committee.
Prominent rights defender Tahani Abbas said the pro-democracy movement would continue street protests despite the crackdown.
“We are frustrated,” she said, “but we have no other option but the street.”
In a nod to deteriorating security conditions, the State Department authorized nonessential personnel and the families of all government employees at the U.S Embassy in Khartoum to leave Sudan “due to civil unrest and possible supply shortages.”
The coup came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and pace of Sudan’s moves toward democracy.
The African Union suspended Sudan — an expected move typically taken in the wake of coups. The AU Peace and Security Council said via Twitter on Wednesday that the suspension would remain in place “until the effective restoration of the civilian-led Transitional Authority,” as the deposed government is known.
The AU plans to send a mission to Sudan to hold talks with rival parties.
The World Bank also suspended disbursements for its operations in Sudan, whose economy has been battered by years of mismanagement and sanctions and was dealt a blow when the oil-rich south seceded in 2011 after decades of war, taking with it more than half of public revenues and 95% of oil exports.
“We hope that peace and the integrity of the transition process will be restored, so that Sudan can restart its path of economic development and can take its rightful place in the international financial community,” bank President David Malpass said in a statement.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s now-deposed government had embarked on a series of reforms meant to transform the country’s economy and have the nation rejoin the international community after over two decades of isolation under al-Bashir.
In May, the World Bank said it had allocated $2 billion to Sudan to finance big infrastructure projects along with others over the next 12 months, after the U.S. provided bridge financing of $1.15 billion to Cleese Sudan’s overdue payments to the global financing body.
Following widespread international condemnation, the military allowed Hamdok and his wife to return home on Tuesday night. Hamdok, a former U.N. economist, was detained along with other government officials when the military seized power.
Several Western embassies in Khartoum said Wednesday they will continue to recognize Hamdok and his Cabinet as “the constitutional leaders of the transitional government” of Sudan.
In a joint statement, the embassies of the European Union, the U.S., the U.K., France and several other European countries called for the release of other detained officials and for talks between the military and the pro-democracy movement.
EU foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell tweeted that he spoke with Hamdok on Wednesday to voice his support for the return of a civilian-led transitional government as “the only way forward.”
“We don’t want Sudan to go back to dark hours of its history,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken also spoke with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi about how to support the civilian-led transition to democracy, and condemned the military takeover.
The general leading the coup, Abdel-Fattah Burhan, has pledged to hold elections, as planned, in July 2023, and to appoint a technocrat government in the meantime.
Burhan met Wednesday with Saudi Ambassador Ali Hassan bin Ghafar to discuss “efforts to resolve the crisis through consultations with all concerned parties,” the Sudanese military said.
But critics doubt the military is serious about eventually ceding control, noting that the coup came just weeks before Burhan was supposed to hand over the leadership of the top ruling body, the Sovereign Council, to a civilian. The council, which was made up of both civilian and military leaders but led by a general, was the ultimate authority in the country, while Hamdok’s transitional government ran day-to-day affairs. Both were dissolved in the coup.
Volker Perthes, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, met Wednesday with Burhan and reiterated the U.N.’s call for a return to the transition process under the constitutional document and the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained.
Perthes also met Hamdok in his residence “where he remains under guard,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The activists taken overnight were Ismail al-Taj, a leader of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the group at the forefront of the protests that brought down al-Bashir; Sediq al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, a leader in Sudan’s largest political party, known as Umma and brother of Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi; and Khalid al-Silaik, a former media adviser to the prime minister.
The three have been outspoken critics of the military takeover and have called for protests. Already, tens of thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets, and activists are planning a mass demonstration on Saturday.
Al-Silaik was detained moments after he gave an interview to broadcaster Al-Jazeera, according to his wife, Marwa Kamel. In the interview, he criticized the military’s takeover, calling Hamdok and his government the legitimate administration of Sudan.
“What Gen. Burhan did is a complete coup. ... People will respond to this in the coming days,” al-Silaik said.
Activists Nazim Siraj and Nazik Awad and the Umma party confirmed the arrests of the other two figures.
When Burhan dissolved the Sovereign Council and the transitional government on Monday, he alleged that the military was forced to step in to prevent the country from sliding into civil war. But he had repeatedly warned he wanted to delay the transition to civilian leadership of the council.
Meanwhile, flights in and out of Khartoum’s international airport resumed Wednesday, a day after the country’s Civil Aviation Authority said they would be suspended until Oct. 30.
UN calls on Sudan's military to restore civilian-led govt
Issued on: 28/10/2021
United Nations (United States) (AFP)
The UN Security Council called Thursday on Sudan's new military rulers to restore the civilian-led government that they toppled this week.
The council passed unanimously a statement that expressed "serious concern" about the coup Monday in the poverty-stricken African nation which has enjoyed only rare periods of democracy since gaining independence in 1956.
The council called for the immediate release of all those detained by the military authorities and urged "all stakeholders to engage in dialogue without pre-conditions."
The British-drafted statement is the product of days of laborious talks among council members and was watered down under pressure from Russia. The council met in an urgent session Tuesday after the putsch.
The statement expresses concern over the "suspension of some transitional institutions, the declaration of a state of emergency" and the detention of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. He was taken Monday by the military and is now under guard at his home, where he was moved after an international outcry. Other ministers remain under full military arrest, however.
One diplomat said that, at the insistence of China, the text notes explicitly that Hamdok did return home on Tuesday evening. But the UN maintains that it considers him as being denied freedom of movement.
The discussions among the Security Council members came against a backdrop of a renewed struggle between Western nations and Russia for influence in Sudan.
A first draft statement floated early this week condemned the coup "in the strongest terms" but this wording was eventually dropped.
In the version that was ultimately adopted, the council "called upon all parties to exercise the utmost restraint, refrain from the use of violence and emphasized the importance of full respect for human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."
Issued on: 28/10/2021
United Nations (United States) (AFP)
The UN Security Council called Thursday on Sudan's new military rulers to restore the civilian-led government that they toppled this week.
The council passed unanimously a statement that expressed "serious concern" about the coup Monday in the poverty-stricken African nation which has enjoyed only rare periods of democracy since gaining independence in 1956.
The council called for the immediate release of all those detained by the military authorities and urged "all stakeholders to engage in dialogue without pre-conditions."
The British-drafted statement is the product of days of laborious talks among council members and was watered down under pressure from Russia. The council met in an urgent session Tuesday after the putsch.
The statement expresses concern over the "suspension of some transitional institutions, the declaration of a state of emergency" and the detention of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. He was taken Monday by the military and is now under guard at his home, where he was moved after an international outcry. Other ministers remain under full military arrest, however.
One diplomat said that, at the insistence of China, the text notes explicitly that Hamdok did return home on Tuesday evening. But the UN maintains that it considers him as being denied freedom of movement.
The discussions among the Security Council members came against a backdrop of a renewed struggle between Western nations and Russia for influence in Sudan.
A first draft statement floated early this week condemned the coup "in the strongest terms" but this wording was eventually dropped.
In the version that was ultimately adopted, the council "called upon all parties to exercise the utmost restraint, refrain from the use of violence and emphasized the importance of full respect for human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."
'If they reach us, they'll shoot to kill': Anti-coup protesters defiant in Sudan
Anti-coup protesters build barricades on the streets of Sudanese capital Khartoum.
Anti-coup protesters build barricades on the streets of Sudanese capital Khartoum.
© France 24 screengrab
Issued on: 28/10/2021
Issued on: 28/10/2021
Text by:FRANCE 24
Thousands of people have defied a harsh crackdown to take to the streets of Sudan since the military coup on Monday. FRANCE 24’s Bastien Renouil and Caroline Kimeu speak to some of the young people at the barricades in the capital Khartoum.
Shops are closed and transport is blocked on the streets of Sudan's capital Khartoum amid a fourth day of protests since Monday’s coup.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 removal of longstanding dictator Omar al-Bashir – dissolved the fragile government tasked with overseeing the country’s transition to full civilian rule.
“We’re blocking the roads to ensure our security so that the military forces can’t reach us,” said one young protester putting up barricades in Khartoum. “If they reach us, they will shoot to kill. They killed our brothers over there, next to the military headquarters.
“We’re calling for civil disobedience,” the protester continued. “We don’t want to see anybody at work.”
Thousands of people have defied a harsh crackdown to take to the streets of Sudan since the military coup on Monday. FRANCE 24’s Bastien Renouil and Caroline Kimeu speak to some of the young people at the barricades in the capital Khartoum.
Shops are closed and transport is blocked on the streets of Sudan's capital Khartoum amid a fourth day of protests since Monday’s coup.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 removal of longstanding dictator Omar al-Bashir – dissolved the fragile government tasked with overseeing the country’s transition to full civilian rule.
“We’re blocking the roads to ensure our security so that the military forces can’t reach us,” said one young protester putting up barricades in Khartoum. “If they reach us, they will shoot to kill. They killed our brothers over there, next to the military headquarters.
“We’re calling for civil disobedience,” the protester continued. “We don’t want to see anybody at work.”
Sudan anti-coup protests defy fierce military crackdown
Issued on: 28/10/2021
Protests against Sudan's military coup that has sparked international condemnation entered a fourth day Thursday, as demonstrators rebuilt barricades demolished by security forces during overnight unrest.
African Union suspends Sudan; World Bank pauses funds over coup
Sudanese protesters chant slogans next to burning tires during a demonstration in the capital Khartoum, Sudan, on Tuesday.
Issued on: 28/10/2021
Protests against Sudan's military coup that has sparked international condemnation entered a fourth day Thursday, as demonstrators rebuilt barricades demolished by security forces during overnight unrest.
(AFP)
African Union suspends Sudan; World Bank pauses funds over coup
Sudanese protesters chant slogans next to burning tires during a demonstration in the capital Khartoum, Sudan, on Tuesday.
Photo by Mohammed Abu Obaid/EPA-EFE
Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Resistance and condemnation of the military coup of Sudan grew at home and abroad on Wednesday as the African Union suspended the country's membership and protests continued within its borders.
The 55-member continental union on Wednesday suspended Sudan with immediate effect from all of its activities after its military seized control of the country in a coup earlier this week and dissolved the civilian-led transitional government.
The expected suspension will be in place until the Transitional Sovereignty Council is effectively restored, the African Union Peace and Security Council said in a statement.
The civilian-led government said it "strongly welcomes" the African Union's suspension while appealing to the international community "to consider the violations committed against the peaceful revolutionaries in our country and against their rights to express their freedom."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also "welcomed" the the union's decision to suspend Sudan's membership in a Wednesday phone call with the union's commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, during which the two "agreed that Sudan must return to civilian leadership."
The announcement from the African Union was made as the World Bank said it had paused the disbursement of all funds to the country on Monday and urged for the democratic transition process to be restored, "so that Sudan can restart its path of economic development and can take its rightful place in the international financial community."
The move followed the United States pausing more than $700 million in emergency aid for the country, and on Wednesday the State Department said Blinken asked Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi what the United States can do in support of "the Sudanese people in their call for a civilian-led transition to democracy."
Support for the restoration of the government on Wednesday also came from the Friends of Sudan group of 11 countries, including Canada, France, Germany and the United States as well as the European Union and the United Nations, which issued a statement reaffirming their commitment to the political transformation of the country following decades or dictatorship rule.
"The actions of the security forces deeply jeopardize Sudan's hard-won political, economic and legal gains made over the past two years and put Sudan's security, stability and reintegration into the international community at risk," the countries said. "The aspirations of the Sudanese people for democracy, human rights, peace and prosperity are clear and were reiterated once against last week through protests across the country."
Meanwhile, dozens of unions and committees in the country pledged Wednesday to continue with protests, night demonstrations, a public strike and to participate in a Saturday parade against the country's takeover.
At least four people have died and 80 wounded as military forces have confronted protests with live ammunition, according to the Sudanese Doctors Association.
"Since they announced their efforts to undermine civil authority three days ago, the coup d'etat has committed the most egregious violations against the Sudanese revolutionaries and committed violations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity," the spokesman for the civilian-led Sudanese government said in a statement that accused the military of shooting peaceful protests and "practicing the utmost brutality in the streets against passers-by."
The military seized control of the country early Monday, imposed a state of emergency, dissolved the governing council and arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife, who have since been released, as well as a number of ministers and political leaders, who remain detained.
The council of six civilians and five military officers was put in place after the country's longtime ruler, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in April of 2019.
Organizations such as the African Union and the U.N. have called for the release of all political detainees.
Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Resistance and condemnation of the military coup of Sudan grew at home and abroad on Wednesday as the African Union suspended the country's membership and protests continued within its borders.
The 55-member continental union on Wednesday suspended Sudan with immediate effect from all of its activities after its military seized control of the country in a coup earlier this week and dissolved the civilian-led transitional government.
The expected suspension will be in place until the Transitional Sovereignty Council is effectively restored, the African Union Peace and Security Council said in a statement.
The civilian-led government said it "strongly welcomes" the African Union's suspension while appealing to the international community "to consider the violations committed against the peaceful revolutionaries in our country and against their rights to express their freedom."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also "welcomed" the the union's decision to suspend Sudan's membership in a Wednesday phone call with the union's commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, during which the two "agreed that Sudan must return to civilian leadership."
The announcement from the African Union was made as the World Bank said it had paused the disbursement of all funds to the country on Monday and urged for the democratic transition process to be restored, "so that Sudan can restart its path of economic development and can take its rightful place in the international financial community."
The move followed the United States pausing more than $700 million in emergency aid for the country, and on Wednesday the State Department said Blinken asked Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi what the United States can do in support of "the Sudanese people in their call for a civilian-led transition to democracy."
Support for the restoration of the government on Wednesday also came from the Friends of Sudan group of 11 countries, including Canada, France, Germany and the United States as well as the European Union and the United Nations, which issued a statement reaffirming their commitment to the political transformation of the country following decades or dictatorship rule.
"The actions of the security forces deeply jeopardize Sudan's hard-won political, economic and legal gains made over the past two years and put Sudan's security, stability and reintegration into the international community at risk," the countries said. "The aspirations of the Sudanese people for democracy, human rights, peace and prosperity are clear and were reiterated once against last week through protests across the country."
Meanwhile, dozens of unions and committees in the country pledged Wednesday to continue with protests, night demonstrations, a public strike and to participate in a Saturday parade against the country's takeover.
At least four people have died and 80 wounded as military forces have confronted protests with live ammunition, according to the Sudanese Doctors Association.
"Since they announced their efforts to undermine civil authority three days ago, the coup d'etat has committed the most egregious violations against the Sudanese revolutionaries and committed violations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity," the spokesman for the civilian-led Sudanese government said in a statement that accused the military of shooting peaceful protests and "practicing the utmost brutality in the streets against passers-by."
The military seized control of the country early Monday, imposed a state of emergency, dissolved the governing council and arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife, who have since been released, as well as a number of ministers and political leaders, who remain detained.
The council of six civilians and five military officers was put in place after the country's longtime ruler, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in April of 2019.
Organizations such as the African Union and the U.N. have called for the release of all political detainees.
Biden lashes Sudan’s junta, deaths climb in anti-coup protests
FILE PHOTO: Anti-military protests in northeastern Sudan
By Khalid Abdelaziz and Doina Chiacu
KHARTOUM/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States and United Nations dialled up the pressure on Sudan’s new military junta on Thursday as confrontations between soldiers and anti-coup protesters took the death toll to at least 11.
After the 15-member U.N. Security Council called for the restoration of Sudan’s civilian-led government – toppled on Monday – U.S. President Joe Biden said his nation like others stood with the demonstrators.
“Together, our message to Sudan’s military authorities is overwhelming and clear: the Sudanese people must be allowed to protest peacefully and the civilian-led transitional government must be restored,” he said in a statement.
“The events of recent days are a grave setback, but the United States will continue to stand with the people of Sudan and their non-violent struggle,” said Biden, whose government has frozen aid.
With thousands taking to the streets to oppose the takeover led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/general-who-led-sudanese-coup-2021-10-26, witnesses said live and rubber bullets were used on protesters in Bahri, across the river from the capital Khartoum as nightly protests picked up.
A doctors committee, which tracks the violence, said a “martyr” died in those clashes while two others were wounded and in critical condition. Earlier, a 22-year-old man died of gunshot wounds, a medical source said.
That took the total of fatalities in four days to at least 11, medical sources said.
DEFIANCE
The U.N. Security Council, along with other foreign powers, called for restraint, dialogue and freedom of detainees.
The latest of several recent coups in Africa ended a shaky transitional set-up in Sudan intended to lead to elections in 2023. Power was shared between civilians and the military following the fall of Omar al-Bashir, whom the army deposed after a popular uprising two years ago.
Officials at some ministries and agencies of government have defied the new junta, refusing to step down or hand over duties.
They have declared a general strike, along with unions in sectors from healthcare to aviation, although officials say they will continue to supply flour, gas and emergency medical care.
Khartoum’s main market, banks and filling stations were still closed on Thursday. Hospitals gave only emergency services. Smaller shops were open, with long queues for bread.
U.N. special representative to Sudan Volker Perthes has offered to facilitate dialogue between Burhan and ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
The former premier, initially held at Burhan’s residence, was allowed to return home under guard on Tuesday. A source close to him said he remains committed to a civilian democratic transition and the goals of the revolt that toppled Bashir.
A group of ministers from the toppled government attempted to visit Hamdok on Thursday but were turned away, said irrigation minister Yasir Abbas.
With authorities restricting internet and phone signals, protesters have been handing out fliers calling for a “march of millions” on Saturday under the same slogan – “Leave!” – from the protests that brought down Bashir.
POVERTY
Sudan is in the midst of a deep economic crisis with record inflation and shortages of basics. Improvement relies on aid that Western donors say will end unless the coup is reversed.
More than half the population is in poverty and child malnutrition stands at 38%, according to the United Nations.
Burhan’s move reasserted the army’s dominant role in Sudan since independence in 1956, after weeks of friction between the military and civilians over issues including whether to hand Bashir and others to The Hague to face charges of war crimes.
Burhan has said he acted to prevent civil war and has promised elections in July 2023.
Western envoys had warned Burhan that assistance, including a now frozen $700 million in U.S. aid and $2 billion from the World Bank, would cease if he took power. Sources said he ignored those warnings under pressure from inside the military and with a “green light” from Russia.
State broadcaster Sudan TV said on Thursday that the civilian-appointed heads of the state news agency SUNA and the state TV and radio corporation had been replaced. The offices of Al-Democrati, a paper that had been critical of the military of late, had been raided, the paper’s deputy chairperson said.
Biden said he admired the courage of Sudanese.
“We believe strongly in Sudan’s economic potential and the promise of its future — if the military and those who oppose change do not hold it back,” he said.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum, Doina Chiacu in Washington, Michelle Nichols in New York and Nafisa Eltahir in CairoWriting by Tom Perry and Andrew CawthorneEditing by Nick Macfie and Grant McCool)
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