Khartoum: Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir has ordered the release of all political prisoners held in the country, state news agency SUNA said on Tuesday.
The decision came in response to calls from political parties and groups that have participated in the country’s ongoing national dialogue to grant detainees the opportunity to engage in the political process, SUNA reported.
Bashir, who has ruled Sudan since 1989 when he came to power in an Islamist and military-backed coup, has said he will not stand in elections expected in 2020 and appointed a vice president last year for the first time.
“The release of political prisoners comes to strengthen the spirit of reconciliation, national harmony and peace created by the national dialogue” and as part of “steps to prepare a permanent constitution for the country,” SUNA said.
Since 2015 Bashir has held ongoing meetings with opposition and rebel groups under the banner of a national dialogue, in part to end longstanding conflicts in warring regions such as Darfur.
Many groups have boycotted the initiative however, demanding that Bashir first repeal what they describe as repressive security and press laws and free political detainees.
SUNA did not specify how many political prisoners the decision would affect or the names of any of those set to be released.
Last month Bashir ordered about 80 political detainees released, weeks after they were arrested amid countrywide protests over soaring food prices and ongoing austerity measures.
Opposition groups have said about 50 political detainees remain in prison, including prominent politician Mohamed Mokhtar Al-Khatib, the leader of Sudan’s communist party.
Sudan’s President Al-Bashir orders release of all political prisoners
Sudan’s President Al-Bashir orders release of all political prisoners
Hamas says path for Gaza must begin with end to ‘aggression’
- Trump’s board met for its inaugural session in Washington on Thursday, with a number of countries pledging money and personnel to rebuild the Palestinian territory
GAZA CITY: Discussions on Gaza’s future must begin with a total halt to Israeli “aggression,” Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said after US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace met for the first time.
“Any political process or any arrangement under discussion concerning the Gaza Strip and the future of our Palestinian people must start with the total halt of aggression, the lifting of the blockade, and the guarantee of our people’s legitimate national rights, first and foremost their right to freedom and self-determination,” Hamas said in a statement Thursday.
Trump’s board met for its inaugural session in Washington on Thursday, with a number of countries pledging money and personnel to rebuild the Palestinian territory, more than four months into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted however that Hamas must disarm before any reconstruction begins.
“We agreed with our ally the US that there will be no reconstruction of Gaza before the demilitarization of Gaza,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader did not attend the Washington meeting but was represented by his foreign minister Gideon Saar.
Trump said several countries, mostly in the Gulf, had pledged more than seven billion dollars to rebuild the territory.
Muslim-majority Indonesia will take a deputy commander role in a nascent International Stabilization Force, the unit’s American chief Major General Jasper Jeffers said.
Trump, whose plan for Gaza was endorsed by the UN Security Council in November, also said five countries had committed to providing troops, including Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania.
