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KHARTOUM - 18 May 2022

Sudanese political figures freed after detention in Juba

File photo: Mohammed al-Khatib, political secretary of the Sudanese Communist Party.
File photo: Mohammed al-Khatib, political secretary of the Sudanese Communist Party.

Three leading members of the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) were released Wednesday after days in detention in South Sudan’s capital Juba, a member of the party said.

 Sidgi Kaballo, a member of the Sudanese Communist Party’s central committee, told Radio Tamazuj that three senior members of the party were detained in Juba shortly after their return from Kauda.

Kauda, 90 kilometres east of South Kordofan state capital Kadugli, is the stronghold of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), the main group fighting the Sudanese government in the southern provinces of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Gen. Abdul-Aziz Al-Hilu, leader of a wing of the SPLM-N, invited the Communist Party delegation for political talks.

 “The three officials detained are Mohammed al-Khatib, who is the political secretary of the Communist party, Saleh Mahmud and Amal Al-Zain who are members of the political bureau,” Kaballo said.

According to Kaballo, the Communist Party delegation travelled to Juba last week to hold talks with Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, founder of the rebel group Sudan Liberation Movement/Army.

 “After their talks with Abdel Wahid in Juba, the delegation proceeded to Kauda to hold talks with the SPLM-N led by Abdul-Aziz Al-Hilu. After their return to Juba from Kauda, the South Sudan External Security Bureau detained them. The reason for their interrogation is that they did not coordinate their travel to Kauda with the authorities in South Sudan,” Kaballo said.

“We, in the party, we thought that the SPLM-N had done the coordination with the South Sudan government before the visit to Kauda,” he added.

According to the Sudanese politician, the three officials are expected to arrive in Khartoum today after being released by the authorities in Juba.

South Sudanese officials could not immediately be reached for comment.