Sudan’s army General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has ordered the release of four civilian ministers detained since he led a military coup last week, state-run television said.
Sudan TV on Thursday identified the four ministers as Hashem Hassab Alrasoul, telecommunications minister; Ali Geddo, trade minister; Hamza Baloul, information minister; and Youssef Adam, youth and sports minister. Several others remain detained.
Also on Thursday, al-Burhan held a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, agreeing on the need to accelerate the formation of a government, according to the general’s office.
The US State Department said Blinken in the call urged al-Burhan to immediately release all political figures detained since the coup and “return to a dialogue that returns Prime Minister [Abdalla] Hamdok to office and restores civilian-led governance in Sudan”.
Alex de Waal, the executive director of the World Peace Foundation, told Al Jazeera that the US could use economic leverage to speed up the formation of a civilian government.
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“The US has quite a considerable leverage because of the very deep economic-financial hole that Sudan is [in],” the army chief said.
“Other countries might have been able to get by on the bailout of the Gulf states, but in the case of Sudan, it can only actually stabilise its economy with considerable assistance, debt rescheduling, debt relief, assistance from the World Bank and the IMF, which requires the United States.”
“So the US actually has very strong cards to play,” he said.
Pro-democracy protesters have staged large demonstrations denouncing the coup, which derailed the country’s fragile transition towards civilian rule.
The UN special envoy for Sudan said talks had yielded the outline of a potential deal on a return to power-sharing, including Hamdok’s reinstatement, but added it had to be agreed in “days not weeks” before both sides’ positions harden.
Last week, al-Burhan said he wanted to form a new government of technocrats, and that Hamdok could return to lead it. On Wednesday, Hamdok’s office denied a report he had agreed to lead a new government and insisted that he wanted detainees released and governing bodies restored before entering into any dialogue.
Neighbourhood resistance committees, which have led protests since the coup and held demonstrations on Thursday, have rejected negotiations and have demanded that the military exit politics.
One proposal under discussion would see Hamdok given greater powers but with a new cabinet more palatable to the army, diplomats said, requesting anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
