UN, US to Sudan military: Show restraint during protests
Source: AP
By SAMY MAGDY
CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations and the United States urged Sudan’s top generals to allow pro-democracy protests Saturday and avoid confrontations in the wake of a military coup earlier this week.
Pro-democracy groups have called for mass marches across the country Saturday to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention.
The takeover has threatened Sudan’s fragile Western-backed transition to democracy, which got under way more than two years ago. In 2019, a popular uprising forced the removal of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist-allied government after nearly three decades in power.
The U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met late Friday with Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Sudan’s strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.
People protest in Khartoum, Sudan, after a military coup earlier this week, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. The coup threatens to halt Sudan's fitful transition to democracy, which began after the 2019 ouster of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in a popular uprising. It came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and pace of that process. (AP Photo / Marwan Ali)
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