From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Dec 08 2009 - 12:33:08 EST
Offices torched after Sudan authorities briefly detain opposition leaders
Protestors react to arrest of people's liberation movement rebels
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
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Abdel Moneim Abu Edries Ali
Agence France Presse
KHARTOUM: Southern protesters torched offices of Sudan's ruling party after
Khartoum police arrested three southern leaders and dozens of protesters on
Monday in a crackdown against a pro-reform demonstration.
Pagan Amum, Yassir Arman and Abbas Gumma from the former rebel Sudan
People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) were freed after a few hours and were
celebrating their release at the movement's headquarters in Khartoum along
with thousands of supporters.
But earlier angry protesters had reacted to their arrest by torching the
offices of the National Congress Party (NCP) of President Omar al-Bashir in
the southern cities of Wau and Rumbek, two provincial capitals, a southern
government official said. There were no reports of casualties.
Amum is the SPLM's secretary general, Arman its deputy secretary general in
northern Sudan, and Gumma is a state minister at the country's Interior
Ministry. Arman sustained a minor injury to his foot while in custody.
Southern president Salva Kiir condemned the arrests, saying they broke the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 that ended a devastating 22-year
civil war between North and South.
"These arrests are not only provocative but unjustified, because the interim
national constitution of the Sudan and the CPA allow for peaceful and
democratic procession," said Kiir, who is also first vice president in a
national unity government in Khartoum.
"We call upon all Sudanese people to remain calm . and exercise their
constitutional rights of expression within the law," he said. Kiir said he
had spoken to the Sudanese president, who had promised the release of all
detainees.
Police had announced that the demonstration to push for reforms ahead of
national elections next year and an independence referendum for South Sudan
scheduled for 2011 would be considered illegal.
Police clashed with the several hundred protesters in Khartoum and its twin
city Omdurman, using tear-gas and beating them with batons before the crowds
dispersed, witnesses said.
Among those arrested were Siddig al-Turabi, son of veteran Islamist
opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, and Khartoum state minister for health
Barmina Awrial, along with more than 70 of the demonstrators.
Four daughters and two grandchildren of another opposition leader, former
prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, were also arrested, his son Mohammad Ahmad
said.
Calm had returned to the capital's streets by the afternoon. Khartoum police
issued a statement published on the Sudanese Media Center website, which is
close to the security services, denying they used tear-gas or force to put
down the protest.
Security forces blocked roads leading to Parliament, with a heavy presence
in key areas. They also closed the bridge across the Nile linking Khartoum
and Omdurman.
The SPLM and Bashir's NCP have failed to agree on democratic reforms ahead
of next April's elections and on a procedural law for the south's referendum
scheduled for January 2011.
The national vote will be the first in Sudan since the 1986 election which
brought Mahdi to power. Bashir toppled his government in a coup three years
later.
The SPLM and around 20 opposition groups called for a "peaceful protest" to
put pressure on the NCP. Registration for the presidential, parliamentary
and state elections began on November 1 and was extended until Monday at the
request of opposition parties, including the southern former rebels.
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