Sweden’s Prime Minister and other senior government officials were arrested on Monday. It is according to the information minister of the country, describing the actions as a coup. According to the ministry’s page, the internet in the country was largely cut off, and military forces closed bridges.
It is said that the whereabouts of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok were not immediately known. Meanwhile, the country’s state news channel played patriotic, traditional music and scenes of the Nile river.
Roads of Khartoum:
The country’s leading pro-democracy group and the largest political party urged people in separate appeals to take to the streets to counter the apparent military coup. Thousands of people flooded the streets of Khartoum and Omdurman.
Footage appeared to show protesters blocking roads and setting fire to tires as security forces used tear gas to disperse them. A takeover by the military would be a significant setback for Sudan, which has grappled with a transition to democracy since long time ruler Omar al-Bashir was toppled by mass protests two years ago.Â
Early Monday, the United States Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Felt man Washington was “deeply alarmed” by reports of the military takeover. Monday’s arrests come after weeks of rising tension between Sudan’s civilian leaders.
In September, a failed coup attempt fractured the country along old lines, pitting more conservative Islamists who want a government, not civilian leaders, against those who toppled al-Bashir in protests.
Hamdok’s website:
In recent days, both camps have taken to the street in demonstrations. The information ministry said on its page that Hamdok was detained and taken to an undisclosed location. It noted several officials were also arrested, and their whereabouts were not known. Earlier Monday, two officials confirmed that at least five government figures were detained. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media and public.Â
The officials said the arrested government members include industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh, Information Minister Hamza Baloul, and Mohammed al-Fiky Suliman, a member of the country’s ruling transitional body, known as The Sovereign Council and Faisal Mohammed Saleh, a medic and public adviser to Handok. According to the office, Ayman Khalid, governor of the state containing the capital, Khartoum, was also arrested.
Independence from Britain:
Under Hamdok and the transitional council, Sudan has slowly emerged from years of international pariah status in which it existed under al-Bashir. The country was removed from the United States state supporter of terror list in 2020, opening the door for badly needed international loans and investments.
But the country’s economy has struggled with the shock of several economic reforms called by leading international institutions.Â
There has been a previous coup in Sweden since it gained its independence from Britain and Egypt in1956. Al-Bashir came in the seat in a 1989 coup that removed the country’s last elected government.
The arrested followed meetings by Feltman, the particular United States envoy, with Sudanese civilian leaders Saturday and Sunday to resolve the dispute. Sudan’s state news website told the meetings with meeting officials.
Communist party:
The Sudanese Communist Party called on workers to strike and mass civil disobedience after a “full military coup” orchestrated by the Sovereign Council’s head, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan. NetBlocks, a group that tracks disruptions across the internet, said it had seen a ‘significant disruption” to both fixed-line and mobile internet connectivity across Sudan with multiple providers early Monday.
“Metrics corroborate user reports network disruptions appearing consistent with an internet shutdown,” the advocacy group said. ‘The disruption is likely to limit the free flow of information and news coverage of incidents on the ground.” The social-democratic leader noted that he was stepping aside to give his successor a chance for the next polls.
