Sudan’s al-Burhan says army ousted government to avoid civil war

Sudan’s top general said on Tuesday that the country’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was “at my home” a day after his reported detention by soldiers during a widely condemned military coup.

“Yes, we arrested ministers and politicians, but not all” of them, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told a news conference in Khartoum, adding that Hamdok was “in good health” and would “return home when the crisis is over”.

The general said the decision to oust the government of Abdalla Hamdok was taken in order to avoid civil war, accusing political forces of incitement against the armed forces.

He said the country’s armed forces gave concessions possible to achieve the dreams of the Sudanese people.

The general was speaking at a news conference a day after a military coup.

Al-Burhan said: “We are aiming to see through a transition to a civilian government.”

“Within the coming days, the judicial bodies will be formed,” he added.

Pro-democracy protesters blocked roads in Sudan’s capital with makeshift barricades and burning tires Tuesday, a day after the military seized power in a swift coup widely denounced by the international community.

The takeover came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and the pace of Sudan’s transition to democracy. It threated to derail that process, which has progressed in fits and starts since the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.

The United Nations Security Council was to discuss the situation in a closed-door meeting later in the day.