Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir has ordered the release of the jailed leader of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) Ibrahim al-Sheikh in En Nahud town of West Kordofan.

This comes following a meeting between president Omer al Bashir and former president of South African and chief mediator of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for Sudan Thabo Mbeki in Khartoum.

In a press statement after the meeting, Mbeki said president Bashir has ordered the release of the chairman of the Sudanese Congress Party Ibrahim al Sheikh in order to create a conducive atmosphere for the National Dialogue.

Al-Sheikh was arrested in his hometown En Nahud in June after publicly criticizing the ‘Rapid Support Forces’ – a militia managed by the country’s intelligence service – and accusing its elements of committing abuses against civilians.

The AUHIP chairman pointed out that President Bashir welcomed the agreement signed recently in Addis Ababa between the signatories of the Paris Declaration as well as the 7+7 committee headed by the chairman of the Reform Now Party (RNP) Ghazi Salahaddin and Ahmed Saad Omar.

For his part, State Minister at the Presidency El Rashid Haroun welcomed the recent agreement signed in Addis Ababa, saying it complies with what the government has been calling for in terms of the National Dialogue. The official ruled out holding the National Dialogue outside Sudan, an option preferred by rebel groups.