Sudanese opposition leader back from exile

KHARTOUM // Sudanese opposition leader and former prime minister Sadiq Al Mahdi returned to the country yesterday, more than two years after he fled.

Mr Al Mahdi, whose civilian government was overthrown in a 1989 coup that brought president Omar Al Bashir to power, flew in to Khartoum, said his daughter Mariam Al Mahdi, deputy head of the Umma party.

Mr Al Mahdi, 81, left Sudan in August 2014, a few weeks after being released following a month in custody on treason related charges, and has lived mainly in Cairo.

He was arrested after accusing pro-government paramilitary forces of rape in western Sudan’s Darfur region but was released after his lawyers appealed to the justice minister to drop or suspend the charges. The exact status of the charges is not clear. Mr Al Mahdi was prime minister from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989.

Umma is one of Sudan’s oldest political institutions.

While in exile, Mr Al Mahdi signed a controversial agreement joining Umma in an alliance with other opposition parties and rebel groups from the war-torn Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur regions.

In November, he had called for a three- day nationwide strike against Mr Al Bashir’s government, amid mounting anger over fuel subsidy cuts and other economic problems.