Sudan’s PM Abdalla Hamdok released, remains under ‘heavy security’

The detained prime minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok, has been allowed to return home, according to his office, a day after the country’s military detained him after seizing power in an apparent coup.

The statement by Hamdok’s office said the toppled prime minister and his wife were under “heavy security” at their home in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, as other civilian officials arrested on the day of the coup remained in detention, their locations unknown.

The release of Hamdok and his wife late on Tuesday followed international condemnation of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s power grab. The United States and the European Union had threatened to suspend aid.

The secretary-general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, the had also demanded Hamdok’s immediate release as he urged world powers to unite to confront what he called an “epidemic of coups d’etat.”

Earlier in Tuesday, al-Burhan made his second appearance since the coup, saying the military had been forced to step in to avoid civil war. The general added that Hamdok had been held for his safety, at his own home, and would be released.

Al Burhan’s coup came after weeks of mounting tensions between civilian officials and the generals who have been ruling Sudan under an uneasy power-sharing deal have been escalating for several weeks.

The military general was supposed to hand the leadership of the Sovereign Council that runs the country to a civilian authority next month a step that would have decreased the military’s hold on power.

The coup was preceded by tens of thousands of protesters that took to the streets of Khartoum and other key cities, demanding the military hand over control of the country to civilian leaders in a reminder of the monthslong protests that preceded Mr. Bashir’s ouster in 2019.

On Tuesday, pro-democracy demonstrators returned to the Sudanese streets, blocking roads in the capital with makeshift barricades and burning tires. Troops responded by shooting fires and killing at least four protesters, according to Reuters.