(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is pausing assistance from a $700 million emergency aid package for Sudan after the military arrested the prime minister and other government officials.
“We have made very clear where we stand -- there needs to be a return to the civilian-led transitional government,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Monday. “The military is responsible for the health and the safety of the prime minister and the others in their custody.”
The suspended funds were “intended to support the country's democratic transition,” he said.
Sudan's military rulers have said a new government will be appointed and they're dissolving the sovereign council, the transitional power-sharing administration's highest decision-making body. Protests erupted in the capital, Khartoum, early Monday, as news of the arrests spread. At least three protesters were shot dead and more than 80 people wounded, according to a doctors' committee.
Read more: Sudan Army Vows New Government After Staging Latest African Coup
Price urged authorities to release political prisoners, reinstate the transitional government and not undertake violence against peaceful protesters.
“We are watching very closely to see how the military responds,” he said.
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