Six Western ambassadors meet with deposed Sudan PM Hamdok

Six Western ambassadors met deposed Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok at his residence on Wednesday, after coup leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan announced that he and his wife could return to their home following their detention.

The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) tweeted that ambassadors from France, Germany, Norway, the UK, the US, and the EU had visited Hamdok at his residence in Khartoum and were “pleased to find him in good health”.

Prime Minister Hamdok’s government was overthrown on Monday in a military coup led by Burhan, who chaired the Sovereignty Council, an interim body made up of civilians and military officers acting as Sudan’s collective head of state.

Burhan dissolved the Sovereignty Council following the coup.

The coup came after weeks of tension between Sudan’s civilian and military leadership. Burhan had previously accused Hamdok’s government of being out of touch with the needs of the Sudanese people and called for its resignation.

Other government ministers and officials were detained following the coup and Hamdok remains under guard.

The UNITAMS tweet called for “full restoration of [Hamdok’s] liberty”.

Ambassadors of @FranceauSoudan, @GermanyinSudan, @NorwayAmbSudan, @GilesLeverUK, @USCDASudan, @EU_Sudan and SRSG @volkerperthes met Prime Minister Hamdok at his residence. Pleased to find him in good health. We continue to call for full restoration of his liberty.

— UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan (@UNITAMS) October 27, 2021

UNITAMS also said that Volker Perthes, the UN Special Representative to Sudan, had met with Burhan and expressed his “grave concern over those detained” since the coup, calling for their “immediate release”.

Perthes also offered to mediate talks between Hamdok and Burhan.

Since the coup, at least eight people have been killed and 170 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces.

The coup has been met with widespread condemnation from governments around the world.

On Wednesday, Burhan sacked six Sudanese ambassadors after they condemned the coup and pledged support for Hamdok.

The dismissed envoys represented Sudan in the US, China, Qatar, and France, as well as at the EU and the UN office in Geneva.