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Sudan's First Opposition Newspaper Appears
KHARTOUM, Feb 6 (News Agencies) - Sudan's first opposition newspaper in ten years finally appeared on Tuesday, published by an Islamist party which broke away from President Omar al-Beshir's ruling party last year.
The daily said its parent party, the Popular National Congress (PNC), was proposing to form a broad-based national front combining Sudan's various political forces to work for freedoms, democracy, and fair elections.
The newspaper, named Rai al-Shaab (People's Opinion), was the first opposition daily to be published since President Omar al-Beshir took power in June 1989 after a military coup which overthrew Sadeq al-Mahdi's democratically-elected government.
Rai al-Shaab said three main Sudanese political parties; the Umma, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Communist Party, had welcomed the proposals by PNC leader and former Beshir-ally Hassan al-Turabi.
It quoted a senior Umma party official as saying it did not rule out dialogue with the PNC, while a top DUP official said his party may agree to the PNC proposals, despite political disagreements.
Recently, there has been a power struggle between Beshir and removed parliament speaker Turabi, the main ideologue of Sudan's Islamist government.
Beshir dissolved the assembly and declared a state of emergency in December 1999; a move welcomed by many countries abroad and opposition groups within the country.
Beshir's government views Turabi as their main antagonist. After parliament was dissolved, Turabi went on to form the PNC as a breakaway party from the ruling National Congress (NC) party.
"The situation in Sudan has changed … Sudanese opposition has to reconsider its position in the new context", said Mohammed Ser al-Khatam al-Mirghani, one of the main leaders of the DUP and National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which groups the opposition in the north and rebellion in the south.
Mirghani is to return to Sudan this week after 11 years of deliberate exile in Egypt, the state-owned Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported last week.
Mirghani told the newspaper he decided to return to his country to make the most of the freedom currently available, and that his decision was made on the request of his DUP supporters in eastern Sudan.
Beshir's victory in the December presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as his commitment to restore peace, were branded a "mockery" by the opposition, which boycotted the poll.
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