US Embassy in Sudan urges staff to avoid protest sites ahead of demos

KHARTOUM, Sudan

The US Embassy in Khartoum on Sunday advised its staff workers to avoid protest spots, ahead of planned rallies to mark the third anniversary of Sudan’s revolution that swept long-serving President Omar al-Bashir from power.

"Demonstrations are expected to take place on December 19 in Khartoum and potentially in other states," the embassy said in a circular to its staff.

The embassy encouraged its personnel "to work from home" and "to avoid all non-essential travel" and “crowds and demonstrations."

On December 19, 2018, protests erupted across Sudan against the deterioration of the country’s economic conditions, forcing the military to remove Bashir from power in April 2019.

Several political groups called for rallies on Sunday to commemorate the revolution anniversary and to show rejection of a recent political deal between Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the military.

On Oct. 25, the military dismissed Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency, amid accusations and differences between politicians and the military.

Hamdok, however, was reinstated on Nov. 21 under an agreement with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Sudanese army chief, in a move that aimed to resolve a political crisis that threatened to undermine Sudan’s transition to democracy.

Before the military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials which was overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and Forces of Freedom and Change coalition.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara