Sudan: Prime minister returned to home under heavy security, general strike, arrests continue, mass protests planned for Saturday

Ousted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife were returned to their home on Tuesday evening after the military detained them, dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency on Monday. A heavy security presence remained stationed at Hamdok’s place of residence, according to a statement issued by his office, which added that a number of government ministers and political leaders remain detained in an undisclosed location.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, one of the major participants in the Freedom and Change Coalition which coordinated the 2019 revolution, stated that reports continued to come in of security forces using violence against protestors on Tuesday night after Hamdok was returned to his home.

A further three more high-profile arrests were also reported on Tuesday night, including Ismail al-Taj, an professionals association leader, Al-Sadiq al-Sadeq al-Mahdi, a leader in the Sudanese Umma Party and brother of Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadig al-Mahdi, and Khalid al-Silaik, a former adviser to the prime minister, according to the Associated Press, which cited the Umma Party, two activists and Silaik’s wife.

In preparation for a mass protest scheduled for October 30, demonstrations against military rule wound down on the streets in the capital on Wednesday though a general strike continued, with work in the public sector halted completely. State oil refinery workers announced Wednesday that they would join the strike, which includes doctors, aviation workers, academics and service sector workers. A Tuesday decree issued by Burhan dissolved union and syndicate steering committees, though Mada Masr correspondents on the ground said the decree went largely ignored.

Meanwhile, the aviation authority suspended flights on Tuesday night until early on Saturday morning. 

Bridges connecting the three cities that make up Khartoum remained closed, with a concentrated presence from the military and the Rapid Support Forces around central gathering places and government facilities such as the military headquarters near Khartoum International Airport. With Omdurman, a trade hub for the rest of the capital and nearby states, largely surrounded by the military, commodity prices fluctuated with a scarcity of bread reported by some in the capital.

Hamdok, prime minister of the Cabinet that was dissolved along with the Sudanese Sovereignty Council by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan as the military seized control of the government on Monday, also spoke with US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Tuesday night. According to a State Department readout of the call, Blinken “welcomed the Prime Minister’s release from custody and reiterated his call on Sudanese military forces to release all civilian leaders in detention and to ensure their safety.”

Blinken also spoke on Tuesday with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. According to the State Department, both Blinken and Farhan "condemned the October 25 military takeover in Sudan and its effect on the stability of Sudan and the region." No equivalent statement was released from Riyadh. 

After a meeting of the UN Security Council, the US, the UK, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland called for the immediate release of all of the politicians who were arrested. At least four civilian Cabinet members and members of the Sovereignty Council were arrested on Monday, along with local leaders in Khartoum and over 300 members of the Freedom and Change Coalition, the main group that coordinated the 2019 revolution and from which the civilian members of the government were selected.

Meanwhile the African Union announced that Sudan’s participation in all AU activities would be suspended until a civilian-led government is returned.