News

The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) declared that the leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP), al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, was not arrested for political or security reasons but summoned to complete investigations over a criminal complaint filed by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) this week.

Al-Mahdi was questioned before state security prosecutors on Thursday regarding remarks he made accusing Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing serious abuses in conflict zones in Darfur and Kordofan including rape as well as looting and burning villages.

The head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, held intensive meetings with government officials, opposition leaders, and civil society organizations in Khartoum on Saturday in order to push forward the national dialogue.

Al-Ansar sect, the religious arm of Sudan’s National Umma Party (NUP) warned the government today against inflicting any harm on al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, a day after he appeared for questioning on statements he made on Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last week.

The lead of Friday prayers at the Ansar Mosque in Wad-Nubawi on Friday, Adam Ahmed Youssef, stressed in the sermon that the Sudanese government will be held responsible for any harm that to al-Mahdi.

The leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP), al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, is scheduled to appear on Thursday before the state security prosecutor for questioning regarding the complaint filed by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) after he accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing serious abuses in Darfur.

The NUP distributed SMS messages and issued a statement confirming that al-Mahdi is determined to appear before the prosecutors amid expectations that a large crowd of his supporters will be present.

SPLM-N secretary general and head of its negotiating delegation Yasir Arman said the two warring parties in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states are far from reaching a peace agreement.

Sudanese government and SPLM-N negotiating delegations last April failed to reach a framework agreement before to start talks to end the three-year conflict in the two southern Sudan states.

The two parties are expected to resume discussions before the end of May.

Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has announced that national dialogue will convene before the end of the month, warning opposition parties which refused to join against attempting to sabotage the process.

NCP’s political secretary, Mustafa Osman Ismail, said in press statements on Monday that his party will not wait for the opposition parties any longer, adding that they will extend their patience but will not allow dialogue to fail.

Sudanese presidential assistant Ibrahim Ghandour said it is possible that upcoming general elections scheduled for next year may be delayed if political forces taking part in the national dialogue process agreed to it.

Ghandour, on a talk show broadcast by the state-run Radio Omdurman on Friday, urged opposition parties to abandon the political tactics approach and join the national dialogue process.

The leader of Sudan’s National Umma Party (NUP), al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, has urged leading figure Mubarak al-Fadil to establish another political party, saying the latter wouldn’t be allowed to rejoin the NUP.

He said at a press conference on Wednesday that al-Fadil has a habit of bringing with him "too much trouble" stressing that accepting him into the NUP is contingent upon his commitment to NUP’s institutions and constitution.

The leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and his son Abdel-Rahman are working steadfastly to move the party towards rapprochement with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), the outgoing Secretary General Ibrahim al-Amin said.

In a phone interview with Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, al-Amin lashed out at al-Mahdi and accused him of deliberately blocking any attempts to mobilize the party behind popular uprisings in the country as was the case during the September 2013 protests that broke out across the country after the government lifted fuel subsidies.