Military forces detained at least five senior Sudanese government officials on Monday, officials said, as the country’s main pro-democracy group called on the population to take to the streets to counter an apparent military coup.
Coup in Sudan, military forces seize power, prime minister detained
The Association of Sudanese Professionals, a group leading demands for a transition to democracy, also said there were phone and Internet signal and Internet outages across the country.
A possible military takeover would be a major setback for Sudan, which has struggled for a transition to democracy since autocrat Omar al-Bashir was ousted by mass protests.
Monday’s arrests follow weeks of rising tensions between Sudan’s civilian and military leaders. A failed coup attempt in September fractured the country along old lines, pitting more conservative Islamists who want military rule against those who toppled al-Bashir more than two years ago in mass protests. In recent days, both sides have taken to the streets in demonstrations.
The arrests of the five government figures were confirmed by two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The officials said the detained government members are Industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh, Information Minister Hamza Baloul and Mohammed al-Fiky Suliman, a member of the country’s governing transitional body known as the Sovereign Council, and Faisal Mohammed Saleh, media adviser to Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Ayman Khalid, governor of the state containing the capital Khartoum, was also detained, according to his office’s official Facebook page.
The arrests followed meetings that U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman held with Sudanese military and civilian leaders on Saturday and Sunday in an attempt to resolve the conflict.
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