Pentagon condemns Sudan’s military, top US diplomat asks how Washington can help

The Pentagon condemned Sudan’s military for its recent “takeover” of the country’s transitional government, a US Defense Department spokesperson said Wednesday.

“These actions are counter to the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people, contravene the Constitution Declaration, and undermine the Juba Peace Agreement,” the spokesperson told Al Arabiya in an e-mail.

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Sudan’s military seized power from the transitional government on Monday after the top general, Abdel Fatah al-Burhan, ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and several other senior government officials.

“We are deeply concerned with the Sudanese military’s takeover of the transitional government and intent to maintain power until democratic elections are held. We call on the military to unconditionally release and reinstate all detained civilians in order to allow the civilian-led transition to continue its progress toward elections,” the Pentagon official said.

The official added: “We call on the Sudanese security forces to respect the right of the Sudanese people to peacefully protest.”

Separately, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Sudanese counterpart, Mariam al-Mahdi, to “solicit her views about what steps the United States can take to support the Sudanese people in their call for a civilian-led transition to democracy in accordance with the Sudanese Constitutional Declaration.”

Blinked renewed his call for the immediate release of the detained civil leaders and reiterated the condemnation of the military takeover.

Burhan dissolved the transitional government and declared a state of emergency just hours after he met with US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman.

Feltman visited Khartoum for the second time in less than a month in a bid to stave off what was seen as a tense standoff between the civilian-led transitional government and the military, which was supposed to hand over power in the coming weeks.

Washington and the West were left blindsided, while neighboring countries called for calm and peace in Sudan.

The US suspended aid packages to Sudan and said the rest of its economic assistance would be in jeopardy if Hamdok’s government was not restored. The World Bank also suspended aid to Sudan on Wednesday.

Read more: US hits out at Sudan’s military after coup, freezes $700 mln in economic aid