Africa

Sudan detains 2 anti-government figures: Opposition

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Sudanese security agents have detained two opposition figures who had joined a new alliance against the government, an opposition member says.

Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) arrested Farouk Abu Issa, head of the opposition National Consensus Forces (NCF), and civil activist, Amin Makki Madani, late Saturday, NCF official, Siddig Youssif, said.

“We have had no communications with them and we do not know where they are,” Youssif added.

Sudan’s authorities have not commented on the incident yet.

Earlier this week, Issa and Madani signed in Addis Ababa the ‘Sudan call’ document aimed at uniting opposition, to President Omar al-Bashir. Signatories were political parties, civil society groups and rebels.

Issa inked the ‘Sudan call’ for the NCF, which includes a number of opposition parties, and Madani signed on behalf of several civil society organizations.

President Bashir recently called on the opposition to take part in national reconciliation talks ahead of the upcoming presidential election scheduled to be held in 2015.

“Dialogue is the only way to solve the problems about power sharing,” said Bashir in an address to the Sudanese congress on Thursday.

Bashir called on opposition groups from different regions of the country, including the violence-stricken Darfur, to come to the negotiation table and “respond to the nation’s call and to participate in the dialogue in order to achieve consensus.”

Bashir stated that the Sudanese people are tired of years of violence and economic hardship following the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

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