UN removing some staff from Sudan as tensions soar

The United Nations (UN) says it is temporarily removing a number of its civilian staff from Sudan because of the deterioration of the security situation in the African country, two days after security forces killed dozens of people during a crackdown against a sit-in in the capital, Khartoum.

“What we are doing is temporarily relocating some of the staff from Sudan. There will still be some staff on hand to perform critical functions, but because of security, some... are being relocated temporarily,” said UN spokesman Farhan Haq on Wednesday.

However, he provided no information on how many personnel were to be relocated, when they might come back, and how many would remain in Sudan. 

On April 11, the Sudanese military overthrew and then imprisoned 75-year-old president Omar al-Bashir after some four months of widespread protests against him over dire economic conditions and the soaring prices of basic commodities. Bashir himself had come to power through a military coup in 1989.

Following Bashir’s ouster, the coup leaders established the so-called Transitional Military Council (TMC), presumably to run state affairs in the post-Bashir era.

But the coup leaders also moved to consolidate power and faced popular protests themselves.

Protest leaders later began negotiating with the generals in an attempt to work out a peaceful transition, and while the two sides had made some progress in the talks, the negotiations abruptly broke down in May over remaining disagreements. The protest movement then called a general strike, and tensions soared.

Then came the crackdown on the sit-in.

SS