Turabi Followers Released After Renouncing Accord With Opposition
KHARTOUM, Feb 27 (News Agencies) - Some members of detained Sudanese dissident Hassan al-Turabi's Popular National Congress (PNC) party have been freed after renouncing a deal Turabi forged with the southern opposition, the government's ruling party said Tuesday.
Turabi and at least 95 PNC officials were jailed February 21st after concluding a deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) calling for joint peaceful resistance against the government.
The SPLA has been fighting a civil war with successive Khartoum governments since 1983.
Ruling National Congress (NC) party Secretary General Ibrhaim Ahmed Omar told reporters that those who have dissociated themselves from the memorandum of understanding have been released, but he neither identified them nor specified how many were set free.
The government media have launched a fierce campaign against Turabi and the PNC, with state television frequently inviting people on who declare they have turned their back on the party.
PNC officials meanwhile protested at the closure of their party's headquarters and other offices by security authorities since the crackdown began, a statement from the registrar of political parties and organizations said.
PNC Deputy Secretary General Abdullah Hassan Ahmed and senior PNC officials Abdullah Suleiman al-Awad and Beshir Adam Rahmah complained that the closure would "bar the party from practicing the legitimate political activities guaranteed by the constitution and the law," the statement said.
The delegation demanded the Registrar take measures to protect "the right of the party and its members for practicing their political activities," the statement said.
It added that the Registrar Mohamed Ahmed Salim promised to consider the complaint "in the context of his legal jurisdictions."
