Police on Friday dispersed crowds in Shambat neighborhood of Khartoum North and arrested 17 protesters, among them four daughters and a son of Sadiq al-Mahdi, Zainab, Mariam, Rabah, Um Salama and Mohamed Ahmed.

Demonstrators were demanding the release of political prisoners, including Umma Party leader Sadiq al-Mahdi and Ibrahim al-Sheikh, head of the Sudanese Congress Party.

The children of Al-Mahdi were released in the late afternoon. Mariam al-Mahdi told Anadolu news agency that they had been taken to a local police station and charged with criminal offenses for demonstrating without permission.

Her father is in jail since the 17 May. 
He is accused of defaming the government for remarks about the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, sometimes referred to popularly as the ‘janjaweed.’

Al-Mahdi has insisted that the government militia is committing war crimes and atrocities against civilians in Darfur and Kordofan. He is facing charges punishable by death or life imprisonment.

Photo: Mariam Al-Mahdi, daughter of the National Umma Party leader and spokersperson (AFP)