Sudanese opposition leader Al-Mahdi due to return to Sudan from exile

RIYADH, Oct. 18, 2003 (KUNA) — Al-Sadeq Al-Mahdi, head of the Sudanese opposition party “Alumma,” is expected to return to Sudan by the end of the month, Sudanese sources close to Al-Mahdi told KUNA on Saturday.

Al-Mahdi plans to pursue his political activities from within Sudan, not because he made any deals with the government after his recent meeting with the Sudanese Vice President Ali Taha in Cairo, but because Al-Mahdi finds the current political environment in Sudan conducive to resuming his former activities, the sources said.

Though he in principle accepts the recent signing of the agreement between the Sudanese government and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Southern Sudan in Kenya, he has reservations about certain points in it.

For instance, he has qualms about the position of both armies, the participation of Southern forces, and the fact that the agreement should include a provision emphasizing democratic rule in Sudan, the sources said.

Al-Mahdi has been living in exile in Cairo for the past three months because of his differences with the Sudanese government over the latter’s lack of movement on setting the wheel of democracy in motion in the country, as perceived by Al-Mahdi.