Sudan’s prime minister, detained after coup, returns home

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan's deposed prime minister and his wife were allowed to return home Tuesday after being detained when the military seized power in a coup, officials said,

The release of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and his wife followed international condemnation of the coup and calls for the military to release all the government officials who were detained when Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan seized power on Monday.

Burhan had said earlier Tuesday that Hamdok had been held for his own safety and would be released.

But he warned that other members of the dissolved government could face trial as protests against the putsch continued in the streets.

Hamdok and his wife were returned to their home in Khartoum's upscale Kafouri neighbourhood, and the house was under “heavy security,” said a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.

The official did not say whether they were free to leave or make calls.

An official at Hamdok's office and pro-democracy activist Nazim Siraj confirmed his return home.

The military seized power Monday in a move that was widely denounced abroad.

On Tuesday, pro-democracy demonstrators blocked roads in the capital of Khartoum with makeshift barricades and burning tires.

Troops fired on crowds a day earlier, killing four protesters, according to doctors.

In his second public appearance since seizing power, Burhan said Tuesday the military was forced to step in to resolve a growing political crisis.

“There were people who were talking about discriminating against others, and that was driving this country to reach a civil war that would lead to the fragmentation of this country, tearing apart its unity, its fabric and society. These dangers were in front of us,” Burhan told a televised news conference.

But the coup came less than a month before Burhan was supposed to hand the leadership of the Sovereign Council that runs the country to a civilian — a step that would have decreased the military's hold on power.

“The whole country was deadlocked due to political rivalries,” Burhan said.

“The experience during the past two years has proven that the participation of political forces in the transitional period is flawed and stirs up strife.”

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