Following the military coup in Sudan, the army leadership has relieved six ambassadors – including the country’s envoy to the European Union – of their duties, according to reports.
The Sudanese ambassadors to the European Union, United States, China, France, Qatar and the head of the Sudanese mission in Geneva were deposed, Sudanese state television and Al-Arabiya reported late Wednesday.
A number of Sudanese diplomats had condemned the military takeover and expressed their solidarity with Sudanese demonstrators resisting the coup.
“We reiterate our unwavering commitment and full support to the struggle of the Sudanese people for freedom, peace and justice and the transition process to establish a permanent democratic system in the country,” the Sudanese ambassadors to Belgium, France, Switzerland, China, South Africa, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emifrates said in a joint statement published by the Sudan Tribune.
The military took power in the East African country on Monday after the political situation worsened. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced that the civilian members of the country’s transitional government were being dismissed and declared a state of emergency.
The African Union announced on Wednesday it had suspended Sudan’s membership in the 55-member continental body after the coup.
Sudan is barred from all AU activities “until the effective restoration of the civilian-led Transitional Authority,” the AU’s Peace and Security Council said in a statement.
The US and the EU said they “continue to recognize deposed Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and his cabinet as the constitutional leaders of the transitional government.”
Both the US and the EU have urgently requested a meeting with Hamdok, who was returned to his home by the military on Wednesday under heavy guard, according to his staff.
Hamdok’s whereabouts had been unknown since his detention during Monday’s military coup until al-Burhan said on Tuesday that the prime minister had been held temporarily at the general’s home “for his own safety.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Hamdok after his release, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
“The secretary welcomed the prime minister’s release from custody and reiterated his call on Sudanese military forces to release all civilian leaders in detention and to ensure their safety,” Price said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in a joint statement released by the US and EU embassies in Sudan on Wednesday, diplomats said it was “paramount for the ambassadors based in Khartoum to be able to communicate with the prime minister.”
Repeating calls for unhindered humanitarian access to Sudan during the political turmoil, the joint statement called on security forces and other armed elements to “refrain from violent attacks” and for peaceful protesters to be protected.
Earlier on Wednesday the EU threatened to suspend aid payments to the country, while the United States has already paused aid worth 700 million dollars to Sudan. The World Bank also said it was freezing payments.
The military coup on Monday came after many weeks of protests and political crisis in the East African country with 44 million inhabitants.
Hamdok had led a transitional government together with military leader al-Burhan since August 2019 after Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s strongman leader for 30 years, was removed from power in an earlier coup following months of mass protests.
The UN’s special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, noted that the transitional government had been conflict-ridden from the start.
“We as the United Nations tried to de-escalate through diplomatic means, but we have not been successful,” Perthes told the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung in remarks published Thursday.
The next elections are now to be held in 2023, according to al-Burhan, who has claimed the coup was necessary for Sudan to avoid descending into civil war.
Prices for food and fuel have skyrocketed in recent months and there have been repeated protests demanding political and economic reforms, as well as the withdrawal of the military from the government.
