For the days of agony that have passed trapped in the building of the Metropolis in Khartoum and the dramatic hours leading up to their release from the violent, civil strife-torn Sudan, the Metropolitan of Nubia and All Sudan, Savvas, spoke to ERT, revealing that both he and the others fled from the country with help of a senior Muslim cleric.

“We are safe. Thank God we are realizing it little by little” he said from Frankfurt in Germany where he has been taken on one of the flights to remove foreign nationals from the African country.

Having the assistance of the Greek consulate which has taken care of and repatriation of all the Greeks who escaped with him, the Metropolitan of Nubia stated that he expects his repatriation to Greece in the near future.

The supreme cleric emphasized that for their escape they had the aid of a senior Muslim cleric while, as he said, contacts had been made with members of the paramilitaries who were outside the church.

There are people left who cannot escape

The Metropolitan of Nubia and All Sudan had remained, along with other Christians, trapped from Holy Saturday until two days ago in Khartoum, the epicenter of the conflicts, asked about how the situation was inside the place where a total of fifteen people had taken refuge all these days, he said characteristically. “We tried to keep them as calm as possible. We didn’t panic.”

As for the situation on the streets of his capital Khartoum stated that “there was nothing out on the streets. Only army, bullets and bombs.” And as he said the situation they experienced was surprising even though tensions in Sudan have existed for the past three years.

Referring to Greek Orthodox community of Khartoum and in efforts to remove them the Metropolitan of Nubia stated that in addition to all those who have so far crossed the country’s borders in the center of the capital “there are people left behind who cannot escape.” Having knowledge of the real situation in the African country that counts dozens of dead from the armed conflicts of the last few days, he emphasized that the truces announced are only on paper.

So far they have been removed from Sudan 50 Greek nationals. The calculations made for the remaining Greeks living in Sudan, are that their number may reach 80. All have taken care to hide in a shelter or in their homes, while their detection by the Greek authorities is done with difficulty.