Head of Sudan army met with Egypt’s Sisi day before the coup, WSJ says

The head of the Sudanese army held a secret meeting with coup leader turned President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the day before he suspended Khartoum’s government, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In what the paper said were “a string of daring geopolitical moves”, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan reassured the US that he didn’t plan to seize power and then headed to Egypt.

Upon his return he ousted the government and took control of authorities, bringing an end to a transitional power sharing period with a civilian administration.

Al-Sisi carried out a coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected President, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013. He was supported by the UAE and Saudi Arabia and had been Morsi’s defence minister. He went on to arrested major players in Morsi’s party and their supporters. Rights group estimates that there are currently 60,000 political detainees in Egypt.

Al-Burhan, a military officer who headed the Sovereign Council, a power-sharing ruling body, announced a state of emergency across the country and dissolved the cabinet and the transitional government on 25 October.

READ: US, UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE call for immediate restoration of Sudan civilian-led rule