African Union suspends Sudan over military coup

By Deng Machol [caption id="attachment_90257" align="alignnone" width="1200"] African Union Commissioner Moussa Faki Mahamat (L) and Prime minister of Sudan Abdalla Hamdok (C) attend closing session of the 33rd African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on February 10, 2020. Photo Credit Mınasse Wondımu Haılu ,Anadolu Agency[/caption] Juba - The African Union (AU) has Wednesday suspended Sudan from all its activities after the country’s military overthrew the civilian-led transitional government in a coup. This comes in the wake of military coups in Sudan. Africa Union Political Affairs and Security said in a communique said the suspension would be in place until “the civilian-led transitional government is restored as well the effective restoration” of the transitional authority steering the country towards elections. "In line with the relevant AU instruments, in particular, the AU Constitutive Act, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, to suspend, with immediate effect, the participation of the Republic of Sudan in all AU activities until the effective restoration of the civilian-led Transitional Authority; it said. It came as the World Bank also on Wednesday followed the United States in suspending aid to Sudan following the widely condemned military takeover. Meanwhile, state oil company workers and doctors said they would join a growing campaign of civil disobedience called by a coalition of unions against the power grab. Security forces on Monday seized Sudan Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and briefly detained him in the military coup that came just a two years into a fragile power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilians after the ousted longtime President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 in the wake of mass protests against his tranny's rule. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved transitional cabinet and imposed a nationwide state of emergency across the country. However, the news prompted tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators to flood into the streets of the capital, Khartoum, rejected Al-Burhan move, demands civilian rule. The protesters were reportedly met gunfire by the security forces, with at least seven people killed and dozens more wounded, according to health sources. Despite the security forces’ violent response, protesters returned to the street on Tuesday, blocking roads with burning tyres and setting up barricades. Soldiers and armed people in civilian clothes were seen removing barricades erected by protesters on the streets but youths came out to build barricades again. The pro - democracy leaders has announced plans for further protests in Sudan until the civilian-rule is restored. The coup came just weeks before Burhan was supposed to hand over the leadership of the Sovereign Council, to a civilian. Al-Burhan in his televised on Tuesday, defended the military’s move, claiming that it was meant to avoid a civil war in Sudan. Burhan also pledged to hold elections, as planned, in July 2023, and to appoint a technocratic government in the meantime. Following widespread international condemnation, Burham allowed Hamdok and his wife to return home under guard on Tuesday night. The Union welcomed the release of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and but further called for the immediate release of the ministers and civilian officials in detention.