(Bloomberg) — Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok survived an assassination attempt, Arab media said, in the latest turmoil to grip the North African nation following the overthrow of its long-time dictator last year.
Hamdok was unharmed and moved to a safe location after an explosion targeted his convoy in the capital, Khartoum, the al-Arabiya TV channel said on Twitter. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s blast.
The Sudanese Congress Party described the attack in Khartoum’s Bahri district as “an attempt to assassinate the revolution.”
The events underlined the dangers Sudan still faces as it attempts a shift to democracy after President Omar al-Bashir’s downfall last April after months of protests. Questions remain over the army’s commitment to surrendering power as well as the threat posed by disgruntled remnants of Bashir’s three-decade rule.
Hamdok, a former United Nations economist, was appointed premier in August after intense negotiations between the protest movement’s leaders and the army. The transitional administration, made up of civilian and military officials, is supposed to lead Africa’s third-largest country into democratic elections slated for 2022.
Bashir and his now-dissolved National Congress Party espoused a firebrand Islamist form of governance after taking power in a 1989 military coup, making alliances with Washington’s enemies that saw Sudan listed by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993. The U.S. later imposed sanctions that lasted until 2017.
In recent weeks, the new government has made a series of proposals — including putting Bashir in front of the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and Sudan’s first-ever official ties with Israel — in a bid to restore its global standing. Authorities say the removal of Sudan’s terrorism designation is key to rebuilding the economy, shattered by decades of mismanagement.
(Updates with details on transitional government from fourth paragraph)
To contact the reporter on this story: Salma El Wardany in Cairo at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at [email protected], Michael Gunn, Amy Teibel
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