African Union Suspends Sudan Until Civilian Rule Is Restored

(Bloomberg) -- The African Union suspended Sudan on Wednesday, two days after its government was toppled in a military coup.

The North African nation’s membership will be restored once a civilian-led transitional authority has been restored, the Addis Ababa-based body said in a statement.

The putsch saw the arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok -- who was allowed to go back to his residence in the capital, Khartoum, late Tuesday -- and a number of government ministers and political leaders, who are being held at unspecified locations. 

Those who remain in detention include Ismael Al Taj, a legal expert, and leading member of the Sudanese Professionals Association. Siddiq al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, the brother of Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiqa and a member of the central committee of the Forces of Freedom and Change -- an activist coalition that backed the civilian wing of the transitional government -- was also apprehended.

Sudanese ambassadors based in several nations, including China, France, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday condemned the coup and pledged allegiance to a popular movement that helped oust dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

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