US orders non-emergency personnel out of Sudan

By Servet Gunerigok</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – The State Department on Thursday ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees in Sudan following the ouster of longtime President Omar al-Bashir. </p> <p>In an updated travel advisory, the department said &quot;violent crime such as kidnapping, armed robbery, home invasion and carjacking is common&quot; and warned citizens not to travel to Sudan. </p> <p>&quot;Terrorist groups in Sudan may harm Westerners and Western interests through suicide operations, bombings, shootings and kidnappings,&quot; said the department. </p> <p>The Sudanese military earlier Thursday announced the removal of al-Bashir, who had ruled Sudan since 1989, and the imposition of a two-year &quot;transitional phase&quot; following mass demonstrations calling for the president to step down.</p> <p>Defense Minister Awad ibn Auf also announced in a televised statement the imposition of a one-month curfew — to take effect Thursday evening — along with a three-month nationwide state of emergency.</p> <p>The emergency &quot;gives security forces greater arrest and incarceration powers&quot; and authority &quot;to detain and arrest anybody they deem to be undermining public order, including protestors or those suspected of supporting the protests,&quot; said the department. </p> <p>&quot;U.S. government employees must obtain special authorization from the Sudanese government to travel outside of Khartoum,&quot; it added. </p> <p>Ibn Auf further announced the suspension of Sudan’s 2005 Constitution and the dissolution of the Sudanese presidency, parliament and council of ministers.</p> <p>He was sworn in Thursday as chairman of the new Military Transitional Council established to run the country’s affairs during the post-Bashir interim phase.</p> <p>Kamal Abdul-Marouf Al-Mahi, chairman of the Joint Staff Command, was sworn in as deputy chairman.</p> <p>Sudanese opposition parties and professional associations voiced &quot;total rejection&quot; of what they described as a &quot;military coup&quot;.</p> <p>Al-Bashir came to power on the back of a 1989 military coup against the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.

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