Sudan rebel coalition SRF welcomes eastern faction

The United Popular Front (UPF), a coalition of eastern Sudanese factions, officially joined the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) today (Wednesday).The Political Secretary of the UPF, El Amin Daoud, and the UPF president, Dr Zeinab Kabashi signed the unification agreement on behalf of the UPF at a joint ceremony with the SRF.Daoud, in an interview with Radio Dabanga, said that he considers the merging of his organisation with the SRF a great victory for the people of eastern Sudan. “This unification shows that all Sudanese are united for a comprehensive solution.” It also stresses the UPF’s position towards the Khartoum regime that, according to Daoud, “strives to keep the issue of eastern Sudan separated from the other marginalised regions in Sudan.”The Political Secretary added that the regime in Khartoum, after the signing of the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement in Asmara in 2006, “completely negated the covenants of the 2006 Agreement. Not a single clause of the agreement has been implemented.”Daoud, in the name of the UPF, appealed to the inhabitants of eastern Sudan to stand side by side with all the Sudanese demanding the overthrow of the regime in Khartoum. He directed the UPF’s appeal in particular to all workers at the port in Port Sudan, requesting them to go on strike, “in solidarity with the peaceful protesters, the relatives of the ones who were killed during the demonstrations, and the displaced people in Sudan who are living in the open, in order to topple the regime in Khartoum.”The SRF welcomed the unification and appealed to all opposition forces to unite “in order to topple the regime, put an end to all the wars, for the sake of peace, democracy, freedom and social justice.”Students on hunger strike16 detained students from the Red Sea University in Port Sudan, capital of the Red Sea state, arrested while protesting against the price hikes, reportedly went on hunger strike on Tuesday evening.A student speaking to Radio Dabanga from Port Sudan said that they demand a fair trial. The student also reported that the security forces in Port Sudan are waging a campaign of arrests among student activists. They raided the house of the student Abdelgadir Mansour in the Taradona neighbourhood and captured him and three other students.The student demanded the authorities to provide the students with a fair trial, in case there are charges against them or to release them immediately.News photo of the joining ceremony: Seated on the front: Political Secretary of the UPF, El Amin Daoud (left), and UPF president, Dr Zeinab Kabashi. Standing on the back: SRF leaders Abdel Wahid El Nur (second from left to right), followed by Malik Aggar, and Minni Minawi.