3 Sudanese ambassadors to Europe defect as junta shuts down Khartoum airport

KHARTOUM – All flights into and out of Sudan’s capital Khartoum have been suspended until October 30, its airport has announced. The move came as three Sudanese ambassadors announced their defection in the wake of a military coup.

“The Civil Aviation Authority issues a pilots bulletin (NOTAM) suspending all incoming and outgoing flights from Khartoum International Airport, starting from today, October 26, until October 30, 2021 at two in the morning local time,” reads the statement published on Khartoum International Airport’s Facebook page.

On Monday, after weeks of tension between Sudan’s military and government, the head of the Sovereign Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced the dissolution of both the council and the transitional government, declaring a state of emergency. News of the apparent military coup was immediately followed by mass protests in the nation’s capital Khartoum and other cities.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, al-Burhan said he was keeping Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok at his own house and he is “in good health.”

Following the latest developments, three Sudanese ambassadors – to France, Belgium/the EU and Switzerland/the UN – issued a strongly worded collective statement condemning the military coup in Sudan, and announced their defection.

In a message published on Tuesday on the official Facebook page of Sudan’s Ministry of Information, the diplomatic trio said they “condemn in the strongest terms the brutal military coup,” call on “peace-loving countries and peoples” to reject it, and welcome “the strong international stances” against the upheaval.

The statement proceeded to declare the embassies in France, Belgium and Switzerland “as embassies for the Sudanese people and their revolution.”

The military coup has been condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and many world leaders who called for the swift release of the prime minister and other senior Sudanese officials detained by the military.