Sudan Appeal symposium strengthens anti-government position

The leaders of the Sudan Appeal, a political communiqué by opposition parties, have denounced the targeting of Darfuri students in Khartoum and other cities, and stressed that the prosecution of President Omar Al Bashir before international courts will persist. The Sudan Appeal held a symposium at the National Umma Party's headquarters on Sunday.

The leaders stressed the need for the independence of universities, and allowing free political activities there. Their statements came in regard to the recent fighting between Darfuri students and youth members of the National Congress Party inside universities in the Sudanese capital.

Imam El Sadig El Mahdi, also the head of the Umma Party, spoke out against the violent suppression of the peaceful protest in Khartoum's El Gereif East on Friday 12 June. Representatives of the protesters attended the symposium. They carried banners depicting the photo of martyr Ahmed Obaid, killed when a protest against the sale of land in the district was violently dispersed by the security service.

The representative of the National Consensus Forces, Ibrahim El Sheikh, stressed that the regime's insistence on unilateral vision, and their use of force, will not bring stability to Sudan.

“The official media have become a trumpet for war-calling, hatred and tribal sedition,” El Sheikh added.

As for the Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF, a coalition of Sudan's main rebel movements), Yassar Arman of the rebel SPLM-N told Radio Dabanga: “We support the campaign to stop the war invested by the regime.”

In the interview, to be broadcasted on Thursday, Arman called on all Sudanese citizens to go out in demonstrations against the regime. He particularly called on the civil society organisations, youth or women groups, and students to gather in order to reveal “the regime's policies which are primarily responsible for these wars”.