Military rulers order rebel leader to leave Sudan

KHARTOUM

Sudan’s ruling military council has ordered rebel leader Yasir Arman to leave the country amid a row over a death sentences handed down against him by former President Omar al-Bashir.

Arman, the leader of the SPLM-N rebel group, arrived in Khartoum last week despite having been sentenced to death in absentia for involvement in a rebellion in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

In a statement on Wednesday, Arman said he was ordered by the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to leave Sudan as the death sentences against him was not dropped.

“I came here upon permission from our people, not the TMC,” Arman said. “We came to stand by our people in the revolution and to call for the inclusion of the war and peace issues in the transitional arrangements.”

“The attempt to exclude us is actually an attempt to exclude these issues and that would create more complications in Sudan,” he argued.

There was no comment from the TMC on the rebel leader’s claims.

Sudanese protesters began a two-day general strike on Tuesday to pile pressure on the TMC to hand over power to a civilian government.

Last month, Sudan’s military establishment deposed al-Bashir following months of popular demonstrations against his 30-year rule.

The TMC is now overseeing a two-year transitional period during which it has pledged to hold presidential elections.

Demonstrators, however, have remained on the streets to demand that the TMC relinquish power -- at the earliest possible date -- to a civilian authority.