Interior Ministry denies ordering Khartoum students’ detention

The Ministry of the Interior denied responsibility for the arrest of university students during protests in Khartoum in the beginning of this month. It holds the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) responsible for the detentions.

Minister Esmat Abdelrahman directed a question in parliament on Sunday to the NISS, “because they are the ones who detained the students”.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the security apparatus released all four graduates of the University of Khartoum who have been held in detention since April. A number of students are still in detention, however.

El Nur Hassan Awad, Sudan's Justice Minister, refused to comment on the students of the University of Khartoum who were detained without charge or trial for more than three weeks.

The released students are Mohamed Farouq Suleiman, Mortada Habbani, Ibrahim Abu Samra and Ahmed Zuhair.

Unrest among students grew over a rumoured plan by the university administration to sell-off faculty buildings and move University of Khartoum facilities to the outskirts of the city ‘to make way for tourist attractions’.

A number of protesting students were detained, and some are still being held.