The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency closed-door meeting on the coup in Sudan for Tuesday afternoon. Diplomats said late Monday that the consultations were requested by the United States, United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Norway and Estonia.
The council is wrapping up a visit to Mali and Niger and is scheduled to return to New York early Tuesday afternoon, so the meeting has been scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT, the diplomats said ahead of an official announcement.
Sudan’s military seized power Monday, arresting the prime minister and other officials of the transitional government, sparking protests by thousands of demonstrators across the country demanding a return to civilian rule. The takeover threatened the country’s shaky progress toward democracy.
Council members are scheduled to discuss the disputed Abyei region on the Sudan-South Sudan border Wednesday.The Biden administration is suspending $700 million in emergency assistance to Sudan following a coup in the African nation.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the full amount of the aid package had been put on “pause” pending a review of the developments in Khartoum. The money, which was direct financial support, was intended to help the country transition to a fully civilian government. Price said additional U.S. assistance could also be affected.
The administration condemned the military takeover and dissolution of a transitional civilian-led authority and demanded the release of all officials detained in the overnight coup, which led to the arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Price said the administration was watching developments “very closely” and “will not hesitate” to hold those responsible for the coup to account.
Announcing the state of emergency on Monday, Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army had taken the actions it had “to rectify the revolution’s course”.
Internet services were cut across the country and roads into Khartoum were shut, before soldiers stormed the headquarters of the state broadcaster in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman. But clashes still erupted in the capital Khartoum after Burhan’s speech.
Source: Reuters
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