Sudanese ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been brought home, his office said, after a day of intense international pressure following his removal in a military coup.
Hamdok was “under close surveillance” while other ministers and civilian leaders remained under arrest, his office added late on Tuesday after the army dissolved Sudan’s institutions on Monday.
“The prime minister… has been accompanied back to his own home in Kafouri district and security measures have been put in place around the perimeter of his home,” a source said.
The official did not say whether the Hamdoks are free to move or make calls.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken immediately spoke with Hamdok, the State Department 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,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
International outrage
Coup leader and army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan earlier on Tuesday said that Hamdok was “at my home… (and) in good health”.
This development comes as international calls for his release continued a day after a coup led by the country’s top military general.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded Hamdok “be released immediately” after the Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sudan.
Guterres’s demands added to a chorus of condemnation by the US and European powers against the Sudanese military’s power grab.
The European Union also threatened to suspend financial support for Sudan if the military did not immediately release the civilian leaders and allow the transitional government to stay in power.
“This attempt to undermine Sudan’s transition to democracy is unacceptable. If the situation is not reversed immediately, there will be serious consequences for the EU’s commitment, including its financial support,” EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell warned in a statement on Tuesday.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said on Tuesday that the Biden administration has been in close contact with Gulf countries about the situation in Sudan.
The US is looking at the full range of economic tools at its disposal to address the situation, he said.
Comment here