CAIRO: Sudanese security forces detained three prominent pro-democracy figures, according to their relatives and other activists on Wednesday, as internal and international pressure mounted on the country’s military to walk back its coup.
The overnight arrests came as protests denouncing Monday’s takeover continued in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere, and many businesses shut in response to calls for strikes. Security forces kept up their heavy-handed response, chasing demonstrators in several neighborhoods late Tuesday, according to activists who said some were shot and wounded. At least six people have been killed in protests so far, according to doctors.
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.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the military’s takeover was a “catastrophic development,” warning that it would have “severe consequences” for Sudan’s recent efforts to reintegrate into the international community after nearly three decades of isolation under Al-Bashir.
“It is putting the country in a perilous situation and is calling the Sudan’s democratic and peaceful future ... into question,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
Following widespread international condemnation, the military allowed deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife to return home on Tuesday night. Hamdok, a former UN economist, was detained along with other government officials when the military seized power.
Several Western embassies in Khartoum said Wednesday they will continue to recognize Hamdok and his Cabinet as “the constitutional leaders of the transitional government” of Sudan.
In a joint statement, the embassies of the European Union, the US, the UK, France and several other European countries called for the release of other detained officials and for talks between the military and the pro-democracy movement.
The new strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, has pledged to hold elections, as planned, in July 2023, and to appoint a technocrat government in the meantime.
But critics doubt the military is serious about eventually ceding control, noting that the coup came just weeks before Burhan was supposed to hand over the leadership of the top ruling body, the Sovereign Council, to a civilian. The council is made up of both civilian and military leaders but led by a general. Separately, Hamdok’s transitional government ran day-to-day affairs.
The activists taken overnight were Ismail Al-Taj, a leader of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the group at the forefront of the protests that brought down Al-Bashir; Sediq Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, a leader in Sudan’s largest political party, known as Umma and brother of Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Mahdi; and Khalid Al-Silaik, a former media adviser to the prime minister.
The three have been outspoken critics of the military takeover — and have called for protests against the move. Already, tens of thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets, and activists are planning a mass demonstration on Saturday.
Security forces confronting protesters have killed at least six people since Monday and wounded over 140 others, many in critical condition, according to physicians with the Sudan Doctors’ Committee.
Al-Silaik was detained moments after he gave an interview to broadcaster Al-Jazeera, according to his wife, Marwa Kamel. In the interview, he criticized the military’s takeover, calling Hamdok and his government the legitimate administration of Sudan.
“What Gen. Burhan did is a complete coup. ... People will respond to this in the coming days,” Al-Silaik said.
Activists Nazim Siraj and Nazik Awad and the Umma party confirmed the arrests of the other two figures.
On Monday, Burhan, the head of the military, dissolved the Sovereign Council and the transitional government, and declared a state of emergency. He alleged that the military was forced to step in to prevent the country from sliding into civil war — but he had repeatedly warned he wanted to delay the transition to civilian leadership of the council.
Sudan arrests 3 coup critics as pressure mounts on military
https://arab.news/9rg4z
Sudan arrests 3 coup critics as pressure mounts on military
- The overnight arrests came as protests denouncing Monday’s takeover continued in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere
Kuwait airport targeted as Iran presses on with attacks on Gulf states
KUWAIT CITY/DUBAI: Gulf nations on Sunday reported new missile and drone attacks, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighboring countries as the war entered its second week.
Kuwait’s defense ministry and Kuwait's Public Authority for Civil Aviation said that the country’s forces were “responding to a wave of hostile drones” that penetrated the country’s airspace.
“The fuel tanks of Kuwait International Airport were attacked by drones in a direct targeting of vital infrastructure,” the defense ministry spokesman said, according to a post by the Kuwaiti military on X.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense was also reporting a wave of drone attacks, saying 21 unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted and destroyed in the last four hours.
Major General Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said in separate posts on X that 13 drones were intercepted and destroyed east of the national capital, Riyadh city, while eight drones were shot down just after entering Saudi air space.
Before midnight on Saturday, loud explosions were heard in Dubai, the Qatari capital Doha and Bahrain’s Manama, with attacks reported in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, where the national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to production.
The attacks came despite Iran’s president earlier apologizing to Gulf countries for earlier strikes. He had said they would no longer be targeted unless strikes were launched from their territory first.
Hours later, Iran said it would continue conducting strikes on sites in Gulf countries which were “at the disposal of the enemy.”
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in “a period of war” and “will emerge stronger” from it.
Dubai authorities said Saturday evening one person had been killed by debris from an “aerial interception,” adding they were a Pakistani national.
Dubai airport closed, reopens
Earlier in the day, Dubai closed its main airport — the world’s busiest for international traffic — after authorities said an unidentified object was intercepted nearby.
The government said there had been “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception,” without directly mentioning the airport. It said there were no injuries.
The Flightradar24 tracking website earlier showed planes circling above the airport in an apparent holding pattern.
In a statement since deleted from X, Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East, had announced it was suspending all flights to and from Dubai until further notice, but later said it had resumed operations.
The UAE, a US ally and home to American military installations, has been the most heavily targeted nation in the Gulf during the war.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defense said that of the 16 ballistic missiles fired at the country on Saturday, all but one had been intercepted, with that missile falling into the sea.
Of the 121 drones detected, 119 were brought down, while two fell within Emirati territory.
The barrage brings the number of ballistic missiles detected by the UAE since the start of the war last Saturday to 221, the defense ministry said, with the number of drones surpassing 1,300.
Flights from Dubai’s main airport had partially resumed on Monday despite daily drone attacks targeting sites in the UAE.
Last Saturday, four employees were injured and an airport terminal damaged as the war broke out following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian attacks have also hit Abu Dhabi airport, the upmarket Palm Jumeirah development and the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel over the past week, while drone debris caused a fire at the US consulate in Dubai on Tuesday.
Relentless air threats
Elsewhere in the Gulf on Saturday, Qatar’s defense ministry said its military had intercepted two missile attacks targeting the country.
Kuwait said Saturday night it had intercepted seven drones since dawn, with the attacks resulting “only in material damage from falling debris.”
And Bahrain said it has intercepted and 92 missiles and 151 drones since the start of the “brutal Iranian aggression.”
AFP journalists heard an explosion Saturday night in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, as authorities said one person was injured after rocket shrapnel fell in a public street.
In Saudi Arabia, the defense ministry said it had destroyed three ballistic missiles heading toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops, as well as 17 drones over the Shaybah oil field in the southeast.
Kuwait also reported intercepting a drone, while the country’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its production of crude due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons.
Further north, Jordan accused Iran of directly targeting sites in the kingdom, saying Tehran had fired 119 missiles and drones in the past week.
“These missiles and drones were targeting vital installations inside Jordan and were not passing through our territories,” said military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hayari.
(With AFP)
