Sudan's Ambassadors Urge Western Governments to Reject 'Coup'

Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)
Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)
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Sudan's Ambassadors Urge Western Governments to Reject 'Coup'

Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)
Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)

A statement by a number of Sudanese ambassadors denounced the use of violence against peaceful protests, calling for the release of all detainees and civil officials, namely Prime Minister Abdala Hamdok.

The diplomats call comes as the US governmental and legislative institutions continue to support the popular demands for the return of the civilian rule and the rejection of the military coup.

The US Embassy in Khartoum tweeted a statement expressing its "deep regrets" over the loss of life and injuries of dozens of Sudanese citizens demonstrating for "freedom and democracy" and condemned the "excessive use of force."

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) also expressed its regret at the continued blackout of internet services in Sudan, which marked Monday its third week since the army took power in Sudan against the "will of the people," saying "internet blackout continues for the 22nd day, further exacerbating economic hardships and stifling the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly."

A statement from the "Committee of Sudanese Ambassadors and Diplomats Against the Coup 25" denounced the "unilateral decisions" taken by the country's military leadership by forming a new Sovereignty Council to lead the country, saying, they are "void" in form and content.

The statement, which Asharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy of, demanded the release of the "legitimate" prime minister and all detained prisoners, asserting support to the Sudanese people in their struggle for "freedom, peace, and justice."

"We stand with our Sudanese people" in their protests against the coup to "restore constitutional legitimacy and democratic civil rule in the country."

In their statement, the diplomats, led by the ambassador to Washington Nureldin Satti, warned against violence and bullets during peaceful protests.

They asserted that the right to peaceful demonstration is guaranteed in all national and international constitutions and laws, noting that all previous "marches of millions" were exemplary behavior.

In an interview with the Voice of America (VOA), Satti said he continues to engage with the US administration and Congress to explain the Sudanese position rejecting the coup.

The ambassador asserted that there is overwhelming support to his position and that of his colleagues who have taken the same position.

Satti, who was appointed after Sudan was removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2019, indicated that he held meetings with the diaspora representatives in the US.

"It was a very good meeting, and we agreed to work together. And I believe that my colleagues also in other embassies, like the one in Brussels, and Paris, Geneva, Beijing, South Africa, and New York are doing the same thing."

The Sudanese ambassador, who was asked by the junta to comply with the new decisions or to resign, declared that he is working with the US officials "to put pressure on the coup perpetrators in order to reverse the action that they have taken, and to take the country back to where it was."

He added that they should accept to "engage wholeheartedly with the civilian component in order to take the country out of this crisis. A military coup has never resolved problems. […] The United States [has] to put pressure on the coup plotters in order to change. We have nothing against the military, but our problem is certain people in the military who do not want this revolution to move forward."

Meanwhile, the regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, Hala al-Karib, said in an article in Newsweek magazine that "innocent and unarmed" Sudanese protesters are again demanding their right to live in a peaceful democracy.

"Once again they paid for their demands with their lives."

She said that one week after the military arrested Hamdok and dissolved the country's civilian leadership, tens of thousands rallied in Khartoum and across the country.

She explained that after the security forces fired tear gas and live rounds at least 11 peaceful demonstrators were killed and over 100 injured.

Karib criticized Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's thin excuse that the coup was "necessary to maintain stability," noting that he is exposed by his refusal to transfer leadership of the joint sovereign council to civilian control, which is demanded by most Sudanese.

She held Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo accountable for their historic crimes and threatened their illicit economic networks.

"The latest military coup in Sudan is another attempt to draw the country back into a dark corner. It will ultimately fail."



Anxiety Clouds Easter for West Bank Christians

Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
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Anxiety Clouds Easter for West Bank Christians

Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP

In the mainly Christian Palestinian town of Zababdeh, the runup to Easter has been overshadowed by nearby Israeli military operations, which have proliferated in the occupied West Bank alongside the Gaza war.

This year unusually Easter falls on the same weekend for all of the town's main Christian communities -- Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican --- and residents have attempted to busy themselves with holiday traditions like making date cakes or getting ready for the scout parade.

But their minds have been elsewhere.

Dozens of families from nearby Jenin have found refuge in Zababdeh from the continual Israeli military operations that have devastated the city and its adjacent refugee camp this year.

"The other day, the (Israeli) army entered Jenin, people were panicking, families were running to pick up their children," said Zababdeh resident Janet Ghanam.

"There is a constant fear, you go to bed with it, you wake up with it," the 57-year-old Anglican added, before rushing off to one of the last Lenten prayers before Easter.

Ghanam said her son had told her he would not be able to visit her for Easter this year, for fear of being stuck at the Israeli military roadblocks that have mushroomed across the territory.

Zabadeh's Anglican church was busy in the runup to Easter but across the West Bank Christian communities have been in sharp decline as people emigrate in search of a better life abroad.

Zabadeh looks idyllic, nestled in the hills of the northern West Bank, but the roar of Israeli air force jets sometimes drowns out the sound of its church bells.

"It led to a lot of people to think: 'Okay, am I going to stay in my home for the next five years?'" said Saleem Kasabreh, an Anglican deacon in the town.

"Would my home be taken away? Would they bomb my home?"

- 'Existential threat' -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and in recent months far-right ministers in its coalition government have called for the annexation of swathes of the territory.

Kasabreh said this "existential threat" was compounded by constant "depression" at the news from Gaza, where the death toll from the Israel's response to Hamas's October 2023 attack now tops 51,000, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Work has been hard to find for Zababdeh's mainly Christian residents since Israel rescinded Palestinian work permits following the October 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war.

Zababdeh has been spared the devastation wreaked on Gaza, but the mayor's office says nearly 450 townspeople lost their jobs in Israel when Palestinian work permits were rescinded after the Hamas attack.

"Israel had never completely closed us in the West Bank before this war," said 73-year-old farmer Ibrahim Daoud. "Nobody knows what will happen".

Many say they are stalked by the spectre of exile, with departures abroad fuelling fears that Christians may disappear from the Holy Land.

"People can't stay without work and life isn't easy," said 60-year-old maths teacher Tareq Ibrahim.

Mayor Ghassan Daibes echoed his point.

"For a Christian community to survive, there must be stability, security and decent living conditions. It's a reality, not a call for emigration," he said.

"But I´m speaking from lived experience: Christians used to make up 30 percent of the population in Palestine; today, they are less than one percent.

"And this number keeps decreasing. In my own family, I have three brothers abroad -- one in Germany, the other two in the United States."

Catholic priest Father Elias Tabban insists the hard times his congregation has been going though have deepened their faith.

Catholic priest Elias Tabban adopted a more stoical attitude, insisting his congregation's spirituality had never been so vibrant.

"Whenever the Church is in hard times... (that's when) you see the faith is growing," Tabban said.