UN envoy meets Sudan’s Hamdok, says still under house arrest

KHARTOUM, Sudan

The UN Special Representative to Sudan, Volker Perthes, on Sunday met with deposed Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, saying he is still under house arrest.

"Just met with Hamdok at his residence where he remains well but under house arrest," Perthes wrote on Twitter.

The UN envoy said he and Hamdok discussed "options for mediation and the way forward for Sudan," stressing that he will continue "efforts with other Sudanese stakeholders."

Hamdok and a number of ministers in his civilian government were detained by the Sudanese military on Oct. 25, amid rising tensions between the military and civilian components of the transitional authority.

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded the Sudanese army to immediately release all Sudanese officials, including Hamdok, and to fully respect Sudan’s constitutional charter.

Shortly after detaining Hamdok, the head of Sudan’s ruling military council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the transitional sovereign council and government, triggering mass protests across the country.

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

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar