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The State Department told VOA it is “aware of reports that a number of U.S. citizens were able to depart Sudan” on Saturday, despite heavy clashes in Khartoum. Hours earlier, Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah Burhan said his troops would facilitate the evacuation of diplomats and citizens from Britain, China, France and the United States. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department on an uncertain situation in Sudan.
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US-SUDAN-EVACUATIONS
HEADLINE: Some US Citizens Depart Sudan Saturday Despite Intense Fighting
TEASER: The State Department says some US citizens were able to leave the country amid a dire security situation
PUBLISHED: 4/22/2023 at 6:15p.m.
BYLINE: Cindy Saine
DATELINE: STATE DEPARTMENT
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Jepsen, Tom Turco
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Saine Zoom interviews, AP, AFP, Reuters
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:48
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: VPKGN
EDITOR NOTES: There is a companion web story.))
((INTRO: ))
[[The State Department told VOA it is “aware of reports that a number of U.S. citizens were able to depart Sudan” on Saturday, despite heavy clashes in Khartoum. Hours earlier, Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah Burhan said his troops would facilitate the evacuation of diplomats and citizens from Britain, China, France and the United States. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department on an uncertain situation in Sudan.]]
((NARRATOR))
Smoke rose over Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, Saturday, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces shattered a three-day humanitarian truce called for the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The State Department was cautious amid an uncertain and confusing security situation, telling VOA they are aware of reports that some Americans were able to depart Sudan Saturday.
((MANDATORY COURTESY: Al Arabiya))
The U.S. Embassy in Sudan is still warning private U.S. citizens to shelter in place.
((END COURTESY))
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with leaders of both sides and pushed for a cease-fire until at least Sunday.
Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah Burhan, said in a statement Saturday that his troops would facilitate the evacuation of diplomats and citizens from Britain, China, France and the United States, “in the coming hours.”
Experts tell VOA the situation in Khartoum is dire and thousands of civilians are trying to flee amid ongoing violence. Nicole Widdersheim is the deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch. She spoke to VOA via Zoom.
((Nicole Widdersheim, Human Rights Watch)) ((Zoom Courtesy))
“And then what I'm most concerned about is we're also hearing that Sudanese continue to try to flee the bombardment and the aerial strikes, which I understand from our experts who are in direct contact with people in Khartoum, this is getting worse. It's getting more indiscriminate.”
((NARRATOR))
Widdersheim told VOA it is hard to understand why the two warring generals cannot uphold a cease-fire for the important Muslim holiday.
((Nicole Widdersheim, Human Rights Watch)) ((Zoom Courtesy))
“What is unclear to me is if these leaders have control over all their forces now. Because if you have this level of international community leaders saying, ‘Listen, like we just need to get the basic safety, safe passage for foreigners, we will work with you on bringing this to a nonviolent dialogue.’ It's not clear to me that they have control over all their forces.”
((NARRATOR))
((MANDATORY COURTESY: Al Ekhbariya))
Saudi state television said a boat carrying 50 Saudi citizens and other nationals rescued from Sudan arrived Saturday in Jeddah, in the first announced evacuation of civilians since fighting began.
((END COURTESY))
As several countries prepare to try to carefully extract their government personnel from Sudan, some residents of southern Khartoum collected water in barrels Saturday, amid shortages caused by a week of fighting.
((Cindy Saine, VOA News, the State Department))
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)US State Department
Embargo DateApril 22, 2023 18:17 EDT
BylineCindy Saine
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America, Voice of America - English
