The Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir orders release of political detainees

Khartoum-The Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir has made directives to release all political detainees who have not been committed criminal offenses, and ordered local authorities to allow all political parties to exercise their activities in and outside Sudan without any restrictions.

President Al-Bashir has pledged, during a round table meeting with Sudanese political leaders, to give the armed movements the guarantees necessary for their participation in the dialogue in Sudan and return to their bases.

On his part, the National Umma Party, Al-Sadeq Al-Mahdi, has welcomed the measures made by the President, saying that” this is a good sign”

However, he called for enforcement of justice with regard to the victims of the September demonstrations, stressing the necessity of lifting the restrictions on the activities of the humanitarian work, resuming actions of international and regional organizations that have been banned from working in Sudan.

Al-Mahdi suggested an agreement on mechanisms for a preparatory meeting for national dialogue, establishment of a national peace council to negotiate with the armed movements, speeding up convocation of the all-inclusive forum, requesting the implementation of these proposals within two months.

The Umma Party, the Democratic Unionist Party, the Popular Congress are among the parties that attended the forum while the other parties such as the Communist Party, the Arab Socialism, the Nasiri and the Unionist have turned down the National Congress call for dialogue linking their participation with creation of favorable climate .

All these parties were part of the national consensus forces.

The situation demonstrates extreme division in the Sudanese opposition ranks. This is believed to be as a result to the ruling party altitude favoring the Islamic parties at the cost of the secular leftist parties.