2 prominent Sudanese opposition leaders arrested in South Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Two prominent Sudanese opposition leaders were arrested Wednesday in South Sudan’s capital Juba.

Sudanese Communist Party Secretary General Mohammed al-Khatib and leading party member Saleh Mahmud were on a political mission to meet with rebels who are non-signatories to the Juba peace agreement, party spokesman Fathi Fadul told Anadolu Agency.

“What we know is that the security organs of South Sudan have complained about the travel of our delegation to the rebel-controlled areas in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state via Juba without notifying the authorities of South Sudan,” he said.

He further said that the two leaders may be released soon but deported directly to Khartoum.

“We are following up with our colleagues in Juba and we denounced this detention and investigation into our leadership, but talks are ongoing to release them,” he added.

Fadul further accused the authorities in Sudan of being behind the arrests in order to stop the coordination between the political parties that oppose the military coup in Sudan.

“We have information that the Sudanese Sovereign Council in coordination with some groups in South Sudan has become involved in this to stop the declaration of the new alliances between our revolutionary groups,” he claimed.

The Sudanese Sovereign Council and Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the matter.

A delegation from the Sudanese Communist Party has met with the leaders of the rebel movements who rejected to sign the Juba peace deal, including the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North Sector (SPLM-N) and the Darfur branch of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM).