Canada has temporarily suspended diplomatic operations in Sudan amid rising tensions in the African nation that has forced countries to evacuate their citizens and diplomats.
“The situation in Sudan has rapidly deteriorated making it impossible to safeguard the safety and security of our staff in Khartoum,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Sunday.
The Canadian embassy in Khartoum, which was physically closed on April 17 but technically remained in operation, will resume operations once it is safe to do so, the GAC statement said.
In the meantime, Canadian diplomats will temporarily work from a safe location outside of the country.
We made the decision to temporarily suspend our operations in Sudan. Our diplomats are safe and working from a location outside of the country.
We remain in regular contact with Canadians affected by this crisis, providing them information and advice as the situation unfolds. https://t.co/oerHFWjtfP
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said officials remain “in regular contact with Canadians affected by this crisis.”
However, there was no word yet about the status of evacuation efforts for Canadians in Sudan: at least 1,596 are registered with Global Affairs Canada but officials stress that is just an estimate because registration is voluntary.
Global Affairs Canada’s Standing Rapid Deployment Team (SRDT) was sent to nearby Djibouti late last week “to enhance our ability to support and to further assess the needs on the ground.”
The Canadian government had already updated its travel advisory for Sudan on April 16, advising Canadians to avoid all travel to the country.
Anyone needing consular services are being told contact the government’s Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa.
U.S., U.K. confirm military airlifts
The U.S. military airlifted embassy officials out of Sudan on Sunday and international governments raced to evacuate their diplomatic staff and citizens trapped in the capital as rival generals battled for control of Africa’s third-largest country for a ninth day.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also confirmed on Twitter early Sunday morning that British armed forces “have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan.”
UK armed forces have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff.
I pay tribute to the commitment of our diplomats and bravery of the military personnel who…
Fighting raged in Omdurman, the city across the Nile from Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, residents reported. The violence came despite a declared truce that was to coincide with the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
“We did not see such a truce,” said Amin al-Tayed from his home near state television headquarters in Omdurman. He said heavy gunfire and thundering explosions rocked the city.
Thick black smoke filled the sky over Khartoum’s airport. The paramilitary group battling the Sudanese armed forces claimed the military unleashed airstrikes on the upscale neighborhood of Kafouri, north of Khartoum. There was no immediate comment from the army.
On Sunday, the country experienced a “near-total collapse” of internet connection and phone lines nationwide, according to NetBlocks, an internet monitoring service.
“It’s possible that infrastructure has been damaged or sabotaged,” Alp Toker, director of Netblocks, said in an interview. “This will have a major effect on residents’ ability to stay safe and will impact the evacuation programs that are ongoing.”
After a week of bloody battles that hindered rescue efforts, U.S. special forces swiftly evacuated 70 U.S. embassy staffers from Khartoum to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia early Sunday. Although American officials said it was too dangerous to carry out a government-coordinated evacuation of private citizens, other countries scrambled to evacuate citizens and diplomats.
France, Greece and other European nations were organizing a mass exodus Sunday. French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said France was undertaking the operation with the help of European allies.
The Greek foreign minister said the country had dispatched aircraft and special forces to its ally, Egypt, in preparation for an evacuation of 120 Greek and Cypriot nationals from Khartoum. Most evacuees were sheltering at a Greek Orthodox cathedral in the capital, Nikos Dendias said.
In this photo provided by Maheen S, smoke fills the sky in Khartoum, Sudan, near Doha International Hospital on Friday, April 21, 2023.
Maheen S via AP
The Netherlands sent two air force Hercules C-130 planes and an Airbus A330 to Jordan to rescue 152 Dutch citizens in Sudan who made their way to an undisclosed evacuation point Sunday.
“We deeply sympathize with the Dutch in Sudan,” said Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren. “The evacuation and the transfer to the assembly point are not without risks.”
Italy dispatched military jets to the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to extract 140 Italian nationals from Sudan, many of whom have taken refuge in the embassy, said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the powerful paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, has targeted and paralyzed the country’s main international airport, reducing a number of civilian aircraft to ruins and gutting at least one runway. Other airports across the country have also been knocked out of operation.
Overland travel across areas contested by the warring parties has proven dangerous. Khartoum is some some 840 kilometers (520 miles) from Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
But some countries have pressed ahead with the journey.
Saudi Arabia on Saturday said the kingdom successfully evacuated 157 people, including 91 Saudi nationals and citizens of other countries. Saudi state TV released footage of a large convoy of Saudis and other foreign nationals traveling by car and bus from Khartoum to Port Sudan, where a navy ship then ferried the evacuees across the Red Sea to the Saudi port of Jeddah.
Power struggle a blow to democracy hopes
The power struggle between the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has dealt a harsh blow to Sudan’s heady hopes for a democratic transition. More than 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and more than 3,700 have been wounded in the fighting.
Both Burhan and Dagalo, each craving international legitimacy, have accused each other of obstructing efforts to evacuate foreign diplomatic officials.
The Sudanese military alleged Sunday that the rival Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, had opened fire on a French convoy during its evacuation, wounding a French national. In response, the RSF claimed it came under attack by military aircraft as French citizens and diplomats made their way to Omdurman after evacuating the embassy. It said the military’s strikes “endangered the lives of French nationals, injuring one of them.”
The French Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the details of the rescue operation or the reported shooting for security reasons, but said the evacuation was continuing as planned.
As violence rages, hospitals say they are struggling to cope. Many dead and wounded have been stranded by the fighting, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate that monitors casualties, suggesting the death toll is probably higher than what is publicly known.
The conflict has left millions of Sudanese stranded at home — hiding from explosions, gunfire and looting — without adequate electricity, food or water.
Thousands of Sudanese have fled the combat in Khartoum and other hotspots, according to U.N. agencies. Up to 20,000 people have abandoned their homes in the western region of Darfur for neighboring Chad. War is not new to Darfur, where ethnically motivated violence has killed as many as 300,000 people since 2003. But Sudan is not used to such heavy fighting in its capital.
“The capital has become a ghost city,” said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate.
The fighting has also caught civilians — including foreign diplomats — in the crossfire. Fighters attacked a U.S. Embassy convoy last week, and stormed the home of the European Union ambassador to Sudan.
The recent violence wounded an Egyptian diplomat in Sudan, the spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zaid, said Sunday, without offering further details.
From the Vatican, Pope Francis called for prayers and offered invocations for peace in the vast African nation.
“I am renewing my appeal so that violence ceases as soon as possible and that the path of dialogue resumes,” Francis told those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The current explosion of violence came after Burhan and Dagalo fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists that was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.
The rival generals rose to power in the tumultuous aftermath of popular uprisings that led to the ouster of Sudan’s longtime ruler, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019. Two years later, they joined forces to seize power in a coup that ousted the civilian leaders and opened a troubled new chapter in the country’s history.
With files from Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Michael Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, Angela Charlton in Paris, Frances D’Emilio in Rome and Fay Abuelgasim in Beirut contributed reporting.
BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.
In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.
The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.
Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.
The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”
There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.
Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.
Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.
A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.
He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.
Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.
Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.
Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.
Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.
Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.
He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.
“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.
He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”
Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.
“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.
The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.
Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.
“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”
Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”
“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”
Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.
Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.
Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.
Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”
The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.
“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.
The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.
Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.
The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.
The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.
If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.
If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.
But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.
Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.
The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.
Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.
“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.
Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.
He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.
“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”
He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.
“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”
— With files from Darryl Greer
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
