Cairo: Protesters blocked some roads in Sudan’s capital with makeshift barricades and burning tyres on Tuesday, a day after the transitional government was dissolved.
The prime minister and other senior officials in the government who were arrested Monday by the military continued to be held at a military camp outside Khartoum, the capital.
The United Nations Security Council was to discuss the situation in a closed-door meeting later Tuesday.
Western governments called for the release of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and other officials. US President Joe Biden’s administration announced the suspension of $700 million in emergency assistance to Sudan.
Protesters called for a mass march on Saturday to press demands for a return to civilian rule.
General Abdul Fattah Burhan, the top military official in Sudan, dissolved the Hamdok government and the Sovereign Council, a joint military and civilian body created soon after Omar Al Bashir’s ouster to run the country. He now heads a military council which he said would rule Sudan until elections in July 2023.
Burhan blamed quarrels and divisions among political factions for the decision, alleging such divisions threaten the integrity of the country. The general said he is serious about holding elections on schedule.
Some protesters remained in the streets on Tuesday morning in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, with many roads barricaded and blocked by burning tyres.
Troops from the military and the Rapid Support Forces patrolled Khartoum neighbourhoods overnight, chasing protesters.
