Sudan coup: Saudi Arabia and UAE join western calls against military takeover
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which enjoy close ties with Sudan's military, joined the United States and the United Kingdom on Wednesday by signing up to a statement urging the leaders of last week's coup to restore the civilian government.
The move by the two Gulf nations, which previously had only emphasised stability in Sudan, comes amid guarded hopes in Washington that the military can be persuaded to accept a face-saving climbdown.
"We endorse the international community's serious concern with the situation in Sudan," said a joint statement released by the US State Department.
"We call for the full and immediate restoration of its civilian-led transitional government and institutions. We encourage the release of all those detained in connection with recent events and the lifting of the state of emergency.
"Violence has no place in the new Sudan, on this point we encourage an effective dialogue between all parties, and we urge all to ensure that the peace and security for the people of Sudan is a top priority," the statement added.
Notably absent from the joint statement was neighbouring Egypt, ruled by general-turned-president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, whose position has been the focus of anger for protesters in Sudan.
Sisi has longstanding connections to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the man at the heart of the coup.
'Emirates share our concern'
The US has led condemnation of the military's 25 October takeover, which interrupted a fragile transition to democracy in which power was being shared with a civilian government.
Washington immediately froze $700m in economic support that was in the pipeline for Sudan.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday that US diplomats have also spoken to Sudan's military and "left no ambiguity whatsoever" about demands to restore Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's government.
US officials said that the UAE holds particular influence in Sudan and helped persuade Burhan to release Hamdok to house arrest.
"I think the Emirates share our concern about the stability in Sudan," Jeffrey Feltman, US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, told reporters on Tuesday.
"Our analysis is that the stability in Sudan depends on restoring that partnership between the civilians and the military that was part of the transition," he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke by telephone last week with Hamdok, discussed the crisis in recent days with his counterparts from both Saudi Arabia and the UAE during a trip to Rome and Glasgow for the G20 and COP26 summits.
Sudan has also faced pressure from the African Union, which suspended the country until "the effective restoration of the civilian-led transitional authority".
Protests planned
The country's transition was meant to pave the way for elections in 2023, after the army helped depose long-ruling president Omar al-Bashir two years ago during a popular uprising.
Burhan has struggled to rally domestic support and neighbourhood-based resistance committees planned protests in Khartoum on Thursday.
Various international and local mediation efforts have been underway for several days. One source close to Hamdok told Reuters that mediated talks were ongoing but no deal had been reached.
Hamdok, a British-educated economist, has called for the reinstatement of his government before any talks with the military can take place.
Burhan, who has said he is committed to the transition and the installation of a technocratic government, said on Wednesday he was in the process of appointing a prime minister "within a week". He has also said that Hamdok could return as premier.
Volker Perthes, the UN special representative to Sudan, said on Monday that mediation efforts were expected to bear fruit in coming days. "The contours of an agreement are becoming clearer," his office quoted him as saying.
Civilians detained
Burhan has said he moved last week to avert civil war, after civilian politicians stoked hostility to the armed forces. He says he is committed to elections in July 2023.
The Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture said on Tuesday that at least 36 civilians arrested in the coup were still held incommunicado.
Sudanese lawyer and human rights defender Kamal el-Gizouli said lawyers attempting to defend the detainees had been unable to establish their whereabouts or the existence of any charges against them after contacting the public prosecution and police.
Burhan has said that those detained without criminal charges would be released.
South Sudanese official Tut Gatluak said on Wednesday that the general had told him detainees would be freed within 24 hours "in order to allow dialogue."
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