Sudan’s deposed prime minister and his wife have returned home after the military detained them and dissolved the government, upending the country’s transition to civilian rule.

       Western governments have called for the release of dozens more Sudanese officials and attempted to raise pressure on Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the top military official who has assumed full control.

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       The State Department announced Washington would suspend $700 million in aid that was meant for Sudan, where inflation has battered the economy. In a joint statement on Wednesday, Western governments said they would continue to recognize civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok as the head of the country’s transitional government.

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       U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said separately that he spoke with Hamdok after he returned to his residence late on Tuesday about “the need to return to civilian leadership.”

       Sudan’s military detains prime minister and dissolves government in coup

       But numerous others remained in detention in unknown locations, according to Hamdok’s office, and more have been detained. “This evening, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife were returned to their residence in Khartoum under tight security,” it said in a statement.

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       Most of his cabinet ministers were detained as security forces spread out across the capital on Monday in a power grab that threatened a democratic transition propelled by millions of Sudanese who marched for the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar Hassan al-Bashir more than two years ago. Young men and women who have since protested for civilian rule pledged to flood the streets again to resist the coup.

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       In a televised speech on Tuesday, Burhan said the prime minister was neither arrested nor harmed, but kept in “safe custody” at the general’s own home for his protection. He claimed there were threats to Hamdok’s life without elaborating and promised a government “not crippled by disagreement.”

       As for the fates of other officials, the general said some were in custody and believed to “undermine national security.”

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       Sudan’s military on Oct. 25 detained the country’s prime minister and declared a state of emergency in what could be the end of a democratic transition. (Reuters)

       Before the swift takeover this week, Sudan’s military and civilian leaders shared power in a fragile arrangement plagued by suspicion and disagreements on fundamental questions including how to dole out accountability for decades of atrocities committed in the past.

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       Since the military swept aside civilian counterparts, crowds have gathered in the streets in protest, with at least 7 people killed and dozens more injured in a heavy-handed crackdown, according to a prominent doctors association.

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