‘Release condemned Darfur rebels’: Sudan opposition

The Popular Congress Party categorically rejects the death sentences for 18 SLM-MM combatants, stressing that their release might convince the armed movements to join the Sudan’s national dialogue. Meanwhile, a thematic ‘Darfur week’ started today, to raise attention to Darfuris at Sudanese agricultural project sites.

“We do not wish their sentences will be carried out,” the political secretary of the party, Kamal Omar, told Radio Dabanga on Monday, “because the political atmosphere requires that it should not happen.”

Omar said that there is an initiative by leaders of his party to mediate for the release of all prisoners, and claimed that the release of the detainees would contribute to convincing the armed movements in Sudan to participate in the national dialogue.

The political secretary also said that his party fully supports the demands of the Darfuri students at the universities, for the exemption of tuition fees. “The Darfuri students have legitimate demands; the Abuja and the Doha peace agreements must be implemented.” He said his party will sit with the ruling National Congress Party and the Darfur Regional Authority to address the issue of the students.

‘Darfur week’ starts in Sudan

In a related subject today, the Sudanese Communist Party will inaugurate a ‘Darfur week’ in Khartoum and publish a book on the occasion. Mohamed Mukhtar El Khatib, the secretary-general of the party, said that the purpose of the Darfur week is to shed light on the issue in the region – “after so many years of suffering” – and on how to find a solution to the crisis.

El Khatib added that the campaign will take place in agricultural projects where people from Darfur constitute the majority of the work force. “The people of Darfur are marginalised in the region and production areas, and live in camps of the agricultural projects, even though they form the backbone of production.”

Invitations to the Darfur week campaign were extended to journalists, writers, diplomats, politicians and those interested in Darfur cause, he explained.