Sudan calls on Interpol to issue red notices for al-Mahdi, Minnawi: sources
January 24, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government is in the process of requesting Interpol issue two red notices for National Umma Party (NUP) leader al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and head of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction Minni Minnawi, judicial sources told Sudan Tribune.
The sources close to the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) said that criminal complaints filed against the two leaders were joined to those made previously against other figures that signed the “Sudan Call” with the rebel coalition of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) in Addis Ababa last month.
Sudanese political and armed opposition forces and civil society organizations signed the accord which calls for ending the war, dismantling the one-party state, achieving a comprehensive peace and democratic transition in the country.
This was preceded by the signing of the “Paris Declaration” last August between the SRF and the NUP which calls for a comprehensive solution involving all the political forces including rebel groups. It further stresses the need to create a conducive environment in order to hold a genuine national dialogue.
The NISS arrested Farouk Abu Issa who chairs the opposition National Consensus Forces (NCF) and Amin Mekki Madani who heads the Alliance of the Sudanese Civil Society Organisations since 6 December after the signing of the “Sudan Call” with the rebel umbrella.
The security service also detained former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) member from Blue Nile state Farah Agar and his office manager, Mohamed Eldoud, for meeting with rebel groups on the sidelines of peace talks in Addis Ababa
Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir described the signatories as agents, traitors and mercenaries who sealed these deals with sponsorship of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad).
Bashir also vowed to try al-Mahdi, who has been based in Cairo since the accords, once he returns to Sudan for his alliance with SRF unless he disavows these agreements.
But al-Mahdi, who was Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister before Bashir’s 1989 coup, rejected these conditions and demanded an apology for Bashir’s accusations.
This month it was the revealed that the NISS asked the Council for Political Parties in December to dissolve the NUP on the basis of the accords signed with rebels seeking to topple the regime and sabotage the constitutional order.
“Supporting them (the rebels) from the NUP is inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution and the law,” reads the NISS filing seen by Sudan Tribune.
“Based on the aforementioned, we ask your esteemed council to exercise and effect your authority contained in articles 10, 13, 14, and 19 of the Political Parties Act,” it adds.
The articles referenced by NISS states that a political party would be deprived from contesting in elections or have its activities frozen or be dissolved through an order of the Constitutional Court based on a lawsuit filed by a two-third majority of Council of Political Parties.
In response the NUP, which is the largest opposition party,announced last week that it has decided to freeze the work of its internal bodies and will operate secretly.
Meanwhile, the sister of the NUP leader Wisal was quoted by the pro-government Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website that there are mediation efforts led by national figures to convince al-Mahdi to return home and join the national dialogue process.
She disclosed that al-Mahdi has left Egypt to join one of his sons who has sought medical treatment for his son abroad.
The NUP was part of the national dialogue launched by Bashir a year ago but withdrew after authorities jailed al-Mahdi for one month over remarks he made against the government militia known as the Rapid Support Force (RSF).
(ST)