Sudan – There is agony in Greece and abroad for Hellenes who have reportedly been caught in the crossfire of the fighting in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, with reports that some are trapped in the Greek Orthodox cathedral there.
More than 1,000 European citizens and about 150 Greeks are in Sudan, where fighting is raging between the Armed Forces and Sudan’s largest paramilitary force, according to Deputy Foreign Minister for Greeks Abroad, Andreas Katsaniotis.
“If no safe passage is found, we do not proceed with evacuations,” Katsaniotis told Greece’s national broadcaster ERT, adding, “at the moment efforts are being made to look at all possibilities, because even the airport is not operating. So, a safe way has to be found. If no safe passage is found, we do not evacuate, that is even more dangerous.”
It is noted that 15 Orthodox Christians – among them Greeks – are trapped in the metropolitan Church of the Annunciation in Khartoum.
“We have told the Metropolitan to stay in the church as the others remain in their homes,” Katsaniotis said, also noting wounded Greeks remained stable.
As the Deputy Foreign Minister recalled, “from the first moment the Greek Foreign Ministry, since April 15, had advised Greeks not to travel to Sudan but also told Greeks there to limit their movements, and this is what we are saying now: To stay in their homes. The Greeks there are not targeted, but they are in the midst of warring parties.”
“The French are the ones who currently have the most people trapped and they are the ones who are in charge right now of operations on behalf of the EU,” he said.
According to Katsaniotis, by order of Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, the Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was activated, which is in communication and coordination with the other EU member states through the Consular Cooperation system.
Katsaniotis pointed out that the heads of the EU Crisis Management Units had a meeting yesterday, Easter Monday, April 17 on how the situation for European citizens in Sudan can proceed and another meeting was expected Tuesday, so that EU countries, as a whole, can – if necessary – either proceed to an extrication from Sudan or to provide supplies to places where there are Europeans citizens.
Finally, the Deputy Foreign Minister underlined that since the beginning of the unsettled situation in Sudan there has been communication with the President of the Greek Community of Sudan, with the Greek honorary consul there, and with the Metropolitan of Sudan, reminding that all Greeks who are in the region should have given their details to the Embassy of Greece in Cairo.
Earlier in the week, Alpha reporter Alexis Kouvelis told the station that he had been in communication with some Greeks in Sudan, which was abruptly cut off as the power went out. After communicating with Metropolitan Sava of Nubia, he noted that 15 people were trapped in the church of the Greek community in the center of Khartoum, at the heart of the fighting.
There was fierce fighting even outside the building where Greeks were trapped, and it was reported that they could not even open the door due to the crossfire.
In his communication with the Alpha reporter, the Metropolitan said: “Outside now, we have a problem. We have gunfire outside the Cathedral and I have people inside who have been trapped since yesterday morning when the Liturgy was held. No one had informed us that something was going to happen in Sudan and we have two wounded people” – meaning injured Greeks.
At one point, when Kouvelis was speaking with the Metropolitan, Kouvelis asked, “was that a gunshot I just heard,” and the latter responded, “that was not just a gunshot, that was gunfire, right outside the Cathedral.”
TWO GREEKS REPORTED WOUNDED
Asked about the condition of the Greeks, the Metropolitan said that, “the Greeks are in good health, except for the two who were wounded. A rocket exploded [injuring] their legs near the church and they are being treated. They have scheduled surgery… one has been wounded in both lower limbs, and the other in one lower limb, in the abdomen, and above the eye. Doctors say their condition is stable.”
Source : The National Herald
