By Emmanuel Nduka
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has ordered the release of four Civilian Ministers who have been in detention after a military coup that ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in October.
Hashem Hassab Alrasoul, Telecommunications Minister; Ali Geddo, Trade Minister; Hamza Baloul, Information Minister; and Youssef Adam, Youth and Sports Minister, were pronounced released, while several others remain detained, according to Aljazeera.
The release of the Ministers came shortly after United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres put a phone call through to General Burhan, appealing to the military chief to restore the democratic transition.
According to a United Nations statement, Guterres encouraged general Burhan to take action toward resolving “the political crisis in Sudan and urgently restoring the constitutional order and Sudan’s transitional process.”
During the call, Guterres reaffirmed that the UN “will continue to stand with the people of Sudan as they strive to fulfill their aspirations for a peaceful, prosperous and democratic future.”
Responding, Burhan pledged to “maintain the peace and inevitability of the democratic transition and to complete the transition process in a manner that preserves the security of the country, the gains of the revolution, and to reach an elected civilian government.”
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Burhan, calling for the “immediate restoration of the civilian-led government” and the release of all political figures detained since the coup, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
“The two parties agreed on the need to maintain the path of the democratic transition, the need to complete the structures of the transitional government and to speed up the formation of the government,” the US statement said.
Burhan dissolved the transitional government on October 25 and detained other top government officials and political leaders in a coup. Many were taken from their homes in the early morning hours and have been kept in undisclosed locations till date.
The military leaders also raided the state news television headquarters and cut off mobile and internet communications across the country.
