World Bank has suspended its aid to Sudan

The World Bank has suspended its aid to Sudan, after the military there staged a coup against the civilian government.

 

According to international media reports political leaders were arrested on Monday, sparking nationwide protests and international condemnation.

The African Union (AU) has also suspended Sudan from the bloc over the "unconstitutional" seizure of power. The US has frozen $700m (£508m) in aid.

According to media report Sudan's civilian and military leaders had been in a fragile power-sharing agreement for the past two years.

The sudden cut to aid is likely to have dire consequences for Sudan's battered economy, at a time when it was just starting to get back on its feet.

The World Bank and AU moves put further pressure on the coup's leader, Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, to reinstate the civilian government.

Gen Burhan was in charge of the power-sharing agreement, and has said the coup was needed to avoid "civil war". He has insisted that Sudan is still moving towards democracy and elections in 2023 - but his reasoning and the sudden takeover have been widely rejected.

The president of the World Bank, David Malpass, said in a statement: "I am greatly concerned by recent events in Sudan, and I fear the dramatic impact this can have on the country's social and economic recovery and development."