Sudanese opposition to meet in Cairo, absentia trial of Mahdi to begin
Sudan, Politics, 7/31/1998

Sudanese opposition factions will hold an expanded meeting in Cairo during August. The spokesman of the Sudanese national opposition grouping, Farouk Abu Eissa, confirmed that the meeting will discuss the group's plan for restoring democracy in Sudan.

The meetings of the Sudanese opposition were to be held at the end of the current month in Cairo, after being postponed from two months before, to guarantee the participation of John Garang, the head of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, where Garang apologized to the head of the opposition Democratic National Assembly for not being able to arrive in Cairo to attend the meetings of the Sudanese opposition at the end of last May due to his preoccupation with the situation in south of Sudan.

During their meeting yesterday evening in Cairo, the Sudanese Democratic National Assembly approved the decision for a cease-fire in southern Sudan for humanitarian reasons and emphasized the importance of sending aid to those who deserve it in the south.

Meanwhile, Sudanese dailies reported on Wednesday that on Saturday a Sudanese military court will start a trial in absentia for former Sudanese Premier al-Sadeq al-Mahdi under charges of conspiring to topple the current government.

The dailies added that a list of charges was sent to al-Mahdi, his son and another 14 opposition members, along with an order to appear before the military court.

Among other things the accusation list includes "conspiracy, the attempt to launch a war against the state, owning arms, and attempts to destabilize the region and internal security."

One of Mahdi's aides denied the accusations. He stressed the "former premier and leader of the nation's party and his supporters will not appear before the court."

Previous Stories:
  Both sides claim upper hand in fighting in Sudanese south   (7/30/1998)
  Sudan demands that Cairo return Sudanese opposition   (7/17/1998)
  Ummah party, communists accused of Khartoum blasts   (7/7/1998)

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