Sudanese army seizes power in coup and arrests prime minister
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CAIRO (AP) – The Sudanese army seized power on Monday, dissolving the transitional government hours after troops arrested the prime minister, and thousands took to the streets to protest the coup which threatened the country’s fragile progress towards democracy.
Security forces opened fire on some of them and three protesters were killed, according to the Sudanese Medical Committee, which also said 80 people were injured.
The takeover, which has drawn condemnation from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, comes more than two years after protesters forced the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and just weeks before the army was supposed to hand over the leadership of the council that runs the country to civilians.
The UN Security Council has scheduled an emergency closed-door meeting on the coup in Sudan for late Tuesday afternoon. The US, UK, France, Ireland, Norway and Estonia requested emergency consultations.
After the morning arrests of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other senior officials, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of the capital, Khartoum, and its twin city of Omdurman. They blocked streets and set tires on fire as security forces used tear gas to disperse them.
As plumes of smoke rose, protesters could be heard chanting, “People are stronger, stronger!” and âRetirement is not an option! A video on social media showed crowds crossing bridges over the Nile to the center of the capital. The US embassy has warned troops are blockading parts of the city and urged the military “to immediately end the violence.”
Pro-democracy activist Dura Gambo said paramilitary forces pursued protesters in parts of Khartoum.
Records from a Khartoum hospital obtained by the Associated Press showed some people admitted with gunshot wounds.
Army chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan announced on national television that he was dissolving the government and the Sovereign Council, a mixed military and civilian body created shortly after al-Bashir’s ouster to lead the country.
Burhan said feuds between political factions sparked the military intervention. Tensions have been mounting for weeks during and at the pace of the transition to democracy in Sudan, an African nation linked by language and culture to the Arab world.
The general declared a state of emergency and said the military would appoint a technocratic government to lead the country to elections, scheduled for July 2023. But he said the military would remain in command.
âThe armed forces will continue to complete the democratic transition until the country’s leadership is handed over to an elected civilian government,â he said. He added that the constitution would be rewritten and that a legislative body would be formed with the participation of “young men and women who made this revolution.”
The Ministry of Information, still loyal to the dissolved government, described his speech as “an announcement of a seizure of power by military coup”.
As night fell in Khartoum, barricades still burned and occasional gunshots could be heard, Volker Perthes, the UN special envoy for Sudan, told a briefing in New York.
President Joe Biden was briefed on Sudan in the morning, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. She added that the United States was “deeply alarmed by reports of a military takeover” and called for the immediate release of the prime minister and other officials.
“Today’s actions are in blatant opposition to the will of the Sudanese people and their aspirations for peace, freedom and justice,” said Jean-Pierre.
The Biden administration is suspending $ 700 million in emergency economic aid to Sudan that had been allocated to help with the transition, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. He called it a “pause” and urged the civilian-led government to be immediately re-established.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns the ongoing military coup in Khartoum and all actions that could jeopardize the political transition and the stability of Sudan,” said his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric .
Guterres also called for the release of government officials, the spokesperson said, as did the African Union. EU Foreign Affairs Chief Joseph Borrell tweeted that he was following events with “the greatest concern”.
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned Sudan could back down, urging the military to release those responsible, withdraw from the streets and settle disputes with the transitional government through dialogue.
Since al-Bashir, who remains in prison, was ousted from power, Sudan has attempted to shake off the international pariah status it held under the autocrat. The country was removed from the U.S. list of states supporting terrorism in 2020, paving the way for much-needed foreign loans and investment.
But Sudan has struggled with the shock of a number of economic reforms called for by international lending institutions.
In recent weeks, there have been fears that the military is planning a takeover, and in fact, there was a failed coup attempt in September. Tensions only increased from there, as the country fractured along old lines, with more conservative Islamists wanting a military government opposed to those who toppled al-Bashir in protests. In recent days, both sides have staged protests.
Amid the stalemate, the generals have repeatedly called for the dissolution of Hamdok’s transitional government – and Burhan, who heads the ruling Sovereign Council, has frequently said the military will only cede power to one government. elected, an indication that the generals may not stick to the current plan. direction of the body to a civilian in November. The council is the ultimate decision-maker, although the Hamdok government is responsible for managing the day-to-day affairs of Sudan.
As part of efforts to resolve the crisis, Jeffrey Feltman, the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, met with Sudanese officials over the weekend, and a senior Sudanese military official said he had tried in vain to get the generals to stick to the agreed plan. .
The arrests began hours later, said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. The official said the prime minister and the others were being held in a military camp outside Khartoum.
Perthes said he and Feltman, in side meetings with political and military leaders in recent weeks, had tried to urge a return to dialogue and against a coup, which he said would “waste achievements of the first two years of the transition â.
State Department spokesman Price said Feltman warned Burhan and others that any unconstitutional change in government would have consequences.
The military was emboldened in its dispute with civilian leaders by support from tribal protesters, who blockaded the country’s main Red Sea port for weeks. The two most senior military officials, Burhan and his deputy, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, also have close ties with Egypt and the wealthy Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The first reports of a possible military takeover surfaced before dawn, and the Information Ministry later confirmed them, saying Hamdok and several senior government officials had been arrested. Internet access was largely disrupted, and the state news channel was broadcasting traditional patriotic music.
Hamdok’s office denounced the detentions on Facebook as a “complete coup”. He said his wife was also arrested.
Sudan has suffered other coups d’état since gaining independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956. Al-Bashir came to power in 1989 during such a takeover. who overthrew the last elected government in the country.
Those arrested included senior government officials and political leaders, including ministers of information and industry, a media adviser from Hamdok and the governor of the state that includes the capital, according to the senior military official. and another manager. Both spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.
After the news of the arrests broke, the main pro-democracy group and two political parties called on the population to take to the streets. The Communist Party urged workers to protest what it described as a âcomplete military coupâ orchestrated by Burhan.
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Associated Press editors Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Matthew Lee in Washington, and Darlene Superville in Kearny, NJ, contributed to this report.
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