Sudan’s FA Minister calls on EU for support against COVID-19

Ambassadors of the European Union in Sudan met with Foreign Affairs Minister Maryam El Sadig on Thursday. They reiterated their support to the government of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok. The minister called for more pressure on the putschists to hand power to a civilian government, and for more support to confront the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Mohamed Naji El Asam, one of the leaders of the December Revolution, was detained on Thursday.  

The delegation of EU envoys “discussed the current crisis” and reiterated their support “for the return to the constitutional order, the need for immediate release of detainees and protection of the right to peaceful demonstrations”.

The FA Minister appealed to the international community to put pressure on the leaders of the coup in order to release all political detainees, headed by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, and to restore the Internet.

She also called for urgent support to confront the COVID-19, which is spreading in Sudan these days, and said that the pandemic was exacerbated by the military coup.

The UN Security Council on Thursday held a closed consultation session, the second of its kind in the past two weeks, on developments in Sudan, at the request of the USA, UK, Norway, France, Ireland, and Estonia.

On Thursday morning, Medical Doctor Mohamed Naji El Asam, a leading member of the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, and former spokesperson for the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the driving force behind the December Revolution that led to the ouster of President Omar Al Bashir, was held in Khartoum and taken to an unknown location.