Opposition’s symposium stopped by Sudan security

Security forces detained four organisers of a symposium for a coalition of Sudanese opposition parties in Wad Madani, El Gezira state, on Thursday. The symposium, to be held today, did not proceed.

According to the spokesman for the National Consensus Forces (NCF), the four were taken to an unknown destination on Thursday afternoon. Bakri Yousef said that they were held while calling on the population of El Gezira state via a loudspeaker to attend the NCF symposium at the headquarters of the Sudanese Congress Party in Wad Madani on Friday. The symposium was also planned to discuss the Sudan Appeal.

The four are El Deif El Zein, Mutwakil El Dabi, El Makashfi Ahmed, and a man named Jaafar. They are all supporters of the Sudan Appeal, Bakri added, who criticised Khartoum for chasing and prosecuting them.

“The supporters of the Sudan Appeal are determined to advocate for its aims in all towns and villages of Sudan.”

Appeal

The political communiqué was signed on 3 December last year in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. In the communiqué, the united opposition forces call for the end of the wars in Sudan, the dismantling of the one-party system, and the rebuilding of the country based on democratic principles and equal citizenship.

The signatories agreed that if a peaceful regime change cannot be achieved by a broad national dialogue, it should be enforced by a popular uprising. Last Monday, they launched their popular campaign to boycott the national elections under the slogan “Leave!” in Khartoum. Seminars will be organised in more than 20 places in the country to inform the Sudanese about the contents of the Sudan Appeal.