U S ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, was injured in a traffic incident on Wednesday, according to the US embassy in Khartoum.
The embassy confirmed the news on Twitter, stating that Godfrey and two other embassy employees were involved in the accident and were taken to a local hospital for evaluation. While the ambassador’s injuries remain undisclosed, his bodyguard reportedly suffered a broken hand.
Godfrey was later transferred to Royal Care Hospital, and the embassy confirmed that he has been released and is now resting at home.
” He and his team experienced only minor injuries,” the embassy said in a statement.
Godfrey had recently hosted an iftar at the US embassy in Khartoum, where he met artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. He had written on Twitter that it was helpful to hear their insights about issues important to the Sudanese people and learn about the ways they contribute to the diverse social fabric of Sudan.
Godfrey is the first US ambassador to Sudan in 25 years and took over the post in August 2022, suggesting a thaw in relations that had been strained since the early 1990s when the US blacklisted Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.
He arrived in Sudan as the country was struggling with deepening unrest and the unravelling of its economy since a military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan in October 2021.
Godfrey is a career diplomat and senior foreign service member who has risen to the rank of Minister-Counsellor. He speaks Arabic and Russian and has worked on some of the State Department’s most pressing files.
He was most recently the acting co-ordinator for counter-terrorism and acting special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. He has had overseas postings in Riyadh, Vienna, Baghdad, and Tripoli in Libya.
