Protests continue for the fourth day a dead man in Khartoum and Biden praises the courage of the Sudanese and calls on the military to restore the civilian government

While protests continue in Sudan against the army's actions, US President Joe Biden called on military leaders there to restore the civilian transitional government and release all detainees, repeating the same call made by the Security Council today when he expressed deep concern about the "military seizing power."

Today, Thursday, Biden said in a statement that the recent events in Sudan are a "serious setback", and stressed that his country will continue to stand by the Sudanese people and their peaceful struggle to achieve the goals of the revolution.

Differing positions at home The African Union suspends Sudan’s membership, the World Bank “stops” its assistance and Blinken talks to Hamdok

"I admire the courage of the people of Sudan in seeking to make their voice heard and to take steps to transform into a democratic country," he added.

He said that the Sudanese people must be allowed to protest peacefully, and called on military leaders to restore the institutions of the transitional government and release all detainees immediately, and believed that "all parties in Sudan can restore a common vision to complete the country's transition towards democracy."

Security Council statement

For its part, the UN Security Council issued a unanimous statement expressing its grave concern about the army's seizure of power in Sudan.

In its statement issued today, Thursday, the Council demanded the re-establishment of a transitional government led by civilians on the basis of the constitutional document, and called for the immediate release of all detainees.

Diplomatic sources in the Security Council had told Al Jazeera hours ago that Britain had distributed a third draft of its draft statement on Sudan, expressing the council's concern about the army's seizure of power, instead of condemning it according to the previous two drafts.

The British move came after Russia raised objections to the inclusion in the council's statement of any condemnation of the Sudanese army's actions.

On the other hand, Volker Peretz, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Sudan, said that he met with the commander of the Sudanese army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan yesterday, and expressed to him his grave concern about the detainees since October 25, and called for the immediate release of all political detainees.

Peretz also requested immediate communication with the detainees, and urged Al-Burhan to stop the "escalation", stressing the responsibility of the army and security services to ensure respect for the right to peaceful protest and the protection of protesters.

He also called on him to open a dialogue with the ousted Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and other stakeholders, and offered to participate in his efforts to facilitate a political settlement in order to restore the transitional partnership.

Last Monday, the army arrested Hamdok and a number of ministers and party leaders, and its leader, Al-Burhan, announced the dissolution of the Sovereignty and Ministers Councils, and pledged to form an independent government of competencies.

Al-Burhan also declared a state of emergency and dismissed governors, and abandoned some provisions of the constitutional document on managing the transitional period.

Restrictions around Hamdok

For his part, Yasser Abbas, Minister of Irrigation in the isolated government, said - in a statement to Al Jazeera today - that the authorities prevented him, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and a number of ministers from meeting the isolated prime minister.

The army had released Hamdok, who returned to his residence in Khartoum on Tuesday evening.

In the context of the popular and political movement rejecting the army’s actions, the Foreign Ministry of the isolated government said that the ambassadors who reject the “coup” are the legitimate representatives of Sudan.

And she added - in a statement published by the Ministry of Information in the ousted government - that the decisions of the army commander "are illegal and have no constitutional basis."

This came after Al-Burhan dismissed 6 ambassadors from their posts, after they rejected his recent decisions.

And Sudanese TV stated - yesterday - that the Commander-in-Chief of the army dismissed the Ambassador to the United States Noureddine Sati, the Ambassador to the European Union Abdel Rahim Khalil, the Ambassador to Qatar Abdel Rahim Siddik, to China Jaafar Karar, and the Ambassador to France Omar Manis, as well as the head of the mission in Geneva Ali soldier.

The dismissal of the director of radio and television

In the same context, Sudanese TV announced today the dismissal of Luqman Ahmed, Director General of Radio and Television, and the appointment of Ibrahim Al-Bazi'i as his successor.

For their part, the ministers belonging to the forces of freedom and change in the isolated government said that they completely and categorically reject the "military coup" and do not recognize any consequences of it.

They called on the military component to immediately cancel all the measures they took, describing them as unconstitutional.

They also called for the release of political detainees, and called on all workers in the executive branch and all public utilities and the private sector to participate in civil disobedience.

On the other hand, the charge d'affaires of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Al-Sadiq Ali Al-Sadiq, said that there are efforts and mediations to bring the partners back to the dialogue table and bridge the gap between them.

He added, during his meeting with a number of ambassadors of countries accredited to Sudan, that "there is no intention to continue the military rule" in the country, and stressed that after the elections, Sudan will move to a fully democratic situation in which an elected government will assume its duties after two years.

Al-Sadiq considered that the dispute between the military and civil components during the past two years posed a threat to national security, which prompted the armed forces to take decisions to “correct” the course, as he put it.

A death in the protests

As the movement against what the protesters call a military coup continued for the fourth consecutive day, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said that a demonstrator was killed and two others were critically injured during demonstrations in the Khartoum North area today, Thursday.

Activists said on social media platforms that the protester was shot dead by gunmen loyal to the army.

A funeral was held in Khartoum Bahri, the body of another citizen who died of his injuries during the demonstrations that took place in the capital last Monday.

Reuters quoted eyewitnesses as saying that they saw security forces use live and rubber bullets against protesters in Khartoum North, with the expansion of the night protests.

Pictures circulating showed ambulance teams trying to rescue the injured, after they were shot during the demonstrations.

Today, the demonstrators re-deployed obstacles in the roads to cut them. In return, the Sudanese forces fired tear gas canisters to disperse the demonstrators in the Burri neighborhood, east of Khartoum.

And the French press agency quoted the director of Sudanese forensic medicine, Hisham Faqiri, as saying today that the morgues in Khartoum received, on Monday, 7 bodies of demonstrators and the body of a soldier from the Rapid Support Forces.

He added that other bodies - whose number was not specified - arrived in the following days due to the violent incidents, and they showed signs of beating with sharp objects. 

The streets of the Sudanese capital are still witnessing an intense security deployment of the army and the rapid support forces, but the authorities tried to restore some aspects of normal life and open some roads and bridges, amid continued intense external pressure on the military leaders.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that air traffic resumed today at Khartoum International Airport, where two planes took off for the first time, after they stopped last Monday.

The reporter added that the army forces opened a number of bridges linking the three cities of the capital (Khartoum, Khartoum North, Omdurman) without inspection. It was satisfied with setting up barriers to monitor traffic, while the opening of closed roads, such as Africa Street, which overlooks Khartoum International Airport, and the streets of the center of the capital, continues.

He pointed out that the commercial movement began to gradually return to the Arab market area in central Khartoum, where some shops opened their doors.

The reporter stated that some street vendors began displaying their wares in the area of ​​Jackson's parking lot, one of the main transportation stops in the Arab market, and traffic returned to Africa and Obaid Khatam Streets, after they had been closed by demonstrators who rejected the decisions of the army chief.

Meanwhile, the Beja glasses council announced the field escalation in eastern Sudan, and Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the council canceled all exceptions for the passage of means of transporting strategic goods.

Muhammad Al-Amin Turk, head of the Beja Opticals and the Independent Al-Amoudiya, had told Al-Jazeera earlier that the council decided to exclude food, medicine, fuel and some strategic commodities from the ban and to keep the roads and seaports closed until their demands are met.

Turk also revealed contacts with Khartoum to assign a federal committee to negotiate the eastern Sudan crisis within 48 hours.