Sudan opposition: ‘Travel ban violates freedom’

The alliance of Sudanese opposition forces, the National Consensus Forces, condemned that the security service prevented three opposition politicians from travelling to France on Sunday.

Mohamed Mukhtar El Khateeb, secretary-general of the Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS), senior CPoS member Tarig Abdelmajeed, and the head of the Unified Federal Party, Jalaa El Azhari, were barred at Khartoum Airport by security officers. Their passports have been confiscated.

“This is a serious violation […] the security apparatus enjoys powers that outweigh the power of the Constitution,” Ibrahim El Sheikh, a member of the NCF opposition, told the press during a news conference in Khartoum on Monday.

El Sheikh, who heads the Sudanese Congress Party, said that the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) has become more powerful than the Sudanese Constitution, which provides the freedom of movement. The party leader himself was banned from travelling to Cairo in October.

The three members of the NCF intended to leave on Sunday morning to participate in a meeting of the Sudan Appeal forces, scheduled to take place in the French capital from 9 to 11 November. El Sheikh said that NCF chairman Faroug Abu Eisa, who lives in Cairo, is “delegated to participate in the meetings in Paris”. The head of the National Umma Party, El Sadig El Mahdi, and a delegation of the Sudan Revolutionary Front are expected to attend.

El Sheikh further accused the Popular Congress Party of leaking the paper of the alternative for the National Dialogue, drafted by the NCF, along with criticising its support to the regime of President Omar Al Bashir. The PCP is one of the opposition parties that participates in the dialogue's steering committee.