Umma Party and SPLM-N intensify cooperation in Sudan

The National Umma Party (NUP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) announced on Wednesday that they will intensify their joint actions to unify the opposition forces into a broad front. In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, NUP Secretary-General Sara Nugdallah and SPLM-N Secretary-General Yasir Arman called upon the Sudanese opposition parties and movements to cooperate in a broad unified front “for the sake of change in the country, and the restoration democracy, fundamental freedoms, and respect for human rights in the Sudan”. After the signing of the joint statement with the NUP, Arman told Radio Dabanga that both parties had decided on intensified cooperation against the “methodical and comprehensive attacks on fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of expression and religious freedom, attacks on the press, the prosecution of youth and student activists and students, and the targeting of civilians in the peripheries of the country”. On her part, Nugdallah explained to Radio Dabanga that both parties condemned the arrest of the NUP leader and Imam El Sadig El Mahdi in the joint statement. “His detention is part of a broad political manipulation by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP). She demanded El Mahdi’s immediate and unconditional release, “together with all other political detainees”.  “In the statement we stressed the need for a unified opposition, with the aim to realise a just and comprehensive peace in Sudan, and restore democracy, freedoms, and respect for human rights. The regime’s itself, by its widespread violence against innocent civilians, has killed the National Dialogue initiative.” El Turabi Conversely, the Popular Congress Party (PCP), led by Dr Hassan El Turabi, reiterated its adherence to the National Dialogue with the Sudanese government, as Kamal Omar Abdel Salam, the party’s Political Secretary told the press in Khartoum on Tuesday. “The PCP will continue with the dialogue, even if El Turabi himself would be detained. We lost confidence in the opposition alliance, and therefore will proceed with the National Dialogue, as initiated by President Al Bashir.” In his address to the nation, President Omar Al Bashir on 27 January called upon all political parties and opposition forces to participate in a National Dialogue, initiated by the NCP, with the aim of “national reconciliation” in the country. The opposition forces denounced the idea, as “most of the political parties and organisations involved in the National Dialogue are closely related to the NCP. Rapid Support Forces NUP president El Sadig El Mahdi, and former Prime Minister (1966-67 and 1986-89), was detained at his home in Omdurman, and taken to Kober prison in Khartoum North on 17 May on charges of “disrespecting the prestige of the state, discrediting the regular armed forces, inciting the international community against Sudan, spreading false news, causing unrest among the regular troops, breaching public peace, undermining the constitutional order, and calling for violently opposing public authority”. The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) filed a complaint against El Mahdi after he had strongly condemned the atrocities committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Kordofan and Darfur. The NUP leader had accused the NISS commanded militias of committing war crimes, recruiting non-Sudanese nationals, and operating beyond the scope of the regular armed troops. File photo: People in Khartoum North demonstrating against the government’s policies (October 2013) Related:Police disperse, detain El Mahdi protesters in Sudan (27 May 2014) ’Political and legal basis needed for Sudan dialogue’: Yasir Arman (8 April 2014)