A roundup of a few key stories last week on political issues in Sudan and South Sudan:

Sudan bans media from reporting on detained ex-PM (AFP, 26 May) – The official SUNA news agency announced that state security prosecutors banned the publication of stories on the criminal case of Sadiq al-Mahdi, the former prime minister and leader of the Umma Party and the Ansar, a sect of Sufi Muslims.

SPLM-N calls on the NUP to join forces with the SRF to overthrow the regime (23 May, Sudan Tribune) – The rebel movement based in South Kordofan and Blue Nile is courting the Khartoum-based Umma Party to join the armed resistance alliance, Sudan Revolutionary Front, after the detention of the party’s leader Sadiq al-Mahdi.

Sudan police throw tear gas at Omdurman mosques Umma leader (23 May, Radio Dabanga) – Demonstrators gathered after prayers last Friday in the twin city of Sudan’s capital, and in towns in White Nile and Gezira. Riot police broke up the gathering in Omdurman.

Equatorian intellectuals debating federal system (26 May, Radio Tamazuj) – Politicians from South Sudan’s southern region are divided over whether to support a system of regional federalism, which is proposed as a possible outcome of the constitutional process.

South Sudan crisis: what would a transitional government look like? (21 May, The Guardian) – A group of more than 50 South Sudanese academics, civil servants and lawyers have called for a government overhaul, including creation of a five-person ‘collegial presidency’ with seats for each of the regions.

File photo: Umma Party leader Sadiq al-Mahdi with SPLM-N secretary-general Yasser Arman, during a meeting of opposition parties ahead of the 2010 elections in Sudan