Sudan military orders closure of Al Jazeera's Khartoum office amid unrest

Sudan has closed the Khartoum office of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera, the station said on its website on Thursday, adding that its staff members' work permits had also been withdrawn.

The Qatar-based broadcaster said Sudanese security officers informed it of the decision by the Sudanese Transitional Military Council to shut its office down.

"The decision also includes the withdrawal of the work permits for the correspondents and personnel of the Al-Jazeera network starting from now," said the station, which regularly broadcasts footage of demonstrations in Sudan.

No written decision was given to the bureau's director, the channel said. 

"They told us that the military council had decided to close the Al-Jazeera network's office and withdraw its licence, Al-Musallami Al-Kabbashi, the director of the station's Khartoum office told AFP.

"We gave them the material and the office," he added.

The Transitional Military Council took power after the army ousted president Omar al-Bashir amid widespread anti-government protests.

The generals, backed by key Arab powers, have resisted calls from African and Western governments to hand over the reins of power.

The council's head Abdelfattah al-Burhan travelled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to participate in a summit there. He had already visited Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Doha in 2017, accusing it of terrorism, which it denies.

The anti-Qatar bloc have since 2011 taken steps to curb and ban the activities of media outlets in their countries, including those funded by Qatar.

The Saudi-led states in 2017 demanded Qatar close Al Jazeera, The New Arab and several other media outlets as part of a list of 13 conditions to end the crisis.