France closes its Embassy “until further notice”
24 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Government of the United States has mobilized several ships in the face of the possibility of evacuating its citizens from Sudan through the Red Sea, after initially removing diplomatic personnel and in a context that also keeps other Western countries in suspense as they rush to remove their respective nationals from the African country.
White House spokesman John Kirby said in statements to MSNBC that Washington is “examining options” for now, taking into account that the situation on the ground makes a “massive” extraction operation impossible. US forces monitor a UN-led convoy carrying dozens of US citizens to the coastal city of Port Sudan with drones.
“The safest thing Americans can do is take cover and not move too much,” he said.
The United Kingdom also removed diplomatic personnel first, something that the Government wanted to justify this Monday by appealing to the particularly delicate position in which they found themselves in Khartoum. The person in charge of Foreign Affairs for Africa, Andrew Mitchell, has confirmed that 2,000 citizens have formally asked for help, but there could be up to 4,000 Britons in Sudan, according to the BBC.
The Foreign Minister himself, James Cleverly, has admitted that access to the population is “limited”, given the intense fighting between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary forces.
For its part, France has continued this Monday with the evacuation work, which has facilitated the departure of the African country of at least 388 people from more than twenty countries. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported in a statement that there is “permanent contact” with those who remain in Sudan.
However, “the French Embassy in Sudan is closed until further notice” and, as of Monday, it is no longer a meeting point for those who want to leave Khartoum. The Embassy will continue with its work but from Paris, once all its personnel have been evacuated, and France “is mobilized to facilitate a ceasefire and the resumption of the political transition process.”
