Sudan oppn leader held in protest crackdown freed

KHARTOUM: Sudanese authorities have released a senior opposition leader who had been detained since December in connection with demonstrations against President Omar al Bashir’s rule, his party said on Tuesday.

Omar el-digeir, the chief of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party, was arrested and jailed days following protests that erupted on December 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread.

The authorities launched a widespread crackdown to curb the protests as they mushroomed into nationwide demonstrations against Bashir, who swept to power in a coup in 1989.

“The chief of our party, Omar el-digeir has been released after two months in detention,” the Sudanese Congress Party said in a statement, without specifying when he was set free.

“But 40 other party leaders are still in detention,” it said. On Tuesday, Digeir vowed to push on with protests against Bashir’s rule.

“We assure our people that our party is fully committed to continue with the peaceful struggle until we achieve success,” he wrote on Twitter.

British Ambassador to Khartoum, Irfan Siddiq, who met Digeir on Tuesday after his release said the opposition leader had been in detention for 67 days without charge.

“All remaining political detainees should be released immediately,” Siddiq wrote on Twitter. “No political consensus can be reached in Sudan without a conducive political environment.”

Over the past decade, the Sudanese Congress Party has emerged as an active opposition group which regularly stages demonstrations and rallies against the authorities.

Most of its supporters are youths, mainly university students and graduates.

Deadly clashes between protesters and security forces have left 31 people dead, officials say, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 have been killed including medics and children.

On February 22, Bashir declared a year-long state of emergency to quell the protests after the crackdown failed to suppress the movement.

He also dissolved the federal and provincial governments, and appointed 16 army officers and two security officers from the feared National Intelligence and Security Service as governors of the country’s 18 provinces.

ON FEBRUARY 22, TO QUELL THE PROTESTS