UN chief urges Sudan Army to reverse coup

Cairo: The UN secretary general urged Sudan’s generals on Sunday to reverse their takeover of the country, a day after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the largest pro-democracy protest since last week’s coup. Antonio Guterres said the generals should “take heed” of Saturday’s protests. “Time to go back to the legitimate constitutional arrangements,” he said in a tweet.

He was referring to a power-sharing deal that established joint military-civilian rule following the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his

Islamist government in April 2019. The UN envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, said meanwhile that he met Sunday with Abdalla Hamdok, the deposed prime minister who remained under house arrest in the capital



Khartoum.

“We discussed options for mediation and the way forward for Sudan. I will continue these efforts with other Sudanese stakeholders,” he said. Guterres expressed concern about violence against protesters on Saturday, calling for perpetrators to be held accountable. At least three people were shot dead when security forces opened fire on protesters in Omdurman, a city adjacent to the capital of Khartoum. A doctors’ union also said more than 110 people were injured by live rounds, tear gas and beatings in Omdurman and elsewhere in the country.

With Saturday’s deaths, the overall number of people killed since Monday’s coup rose to 12, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Committee and activists.