The UN Security Council on Thursday expressed "serious concern about a military takeover in Sudan" and urged Sudan's military authorities to restore the civilian-led transitional government.
In a statement, agreed by consensus, the 15-member body urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and engage in dialogue without pre-conditions. The council also called for the immediate release of all those who have been detained by the military authorities.
The UN’s most powerful body also expressed “solidarity” with the Sudanese people and affirmed its readiness "to support efforts to realize Sudan’s democratic transition” and the peoples’ aspirations “for an inclusive, peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous future.”
The UN Special Representative in Sudan met with Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Wednesday and encouraged him to de-escalate the situation in the country, calling for access to and the release of detainees, his mission said in a statement on Thursday.
Volker Perthes "offered his good offices to facilitate a political settlement towards the restoration of the transitional partnership," the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi on Thursday, condemned Sudan's military takeover and the arrest of the country's civilian leaders.
He said on Twitter that they also discussed how the United States can best support the Sudanese people's call for a return to a civilian-led transition to democracy.
Thousands of people in the African country have taken to the streets since Monday's military's seizure of power from a transitional government, and several have been killed in clashes with security forces.
Burhan, who led the military takeover, has dismissed the joint civilian-military council set up to steer the country to democratic elections.
