Sudan's state security arrested on Saturday opposition leader and ex-premier Sadiq al-Mahdi, his secretary said, after he reportedly accused a counter-insurgency unit of rape and other abuses of civilians in Darfur. "At 8:45 pm (1745 GMT) a number of state security officers came to the home of imam Sadiq Al-Mahdi with a warrant, and they arrested him," his secretary, Mohammed Zaki, told AFP. Zaki had no further details about the arrest, which makes Mahdi one of the highest-profile figures to be detained in Sudan in recent memory.
The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) has the right to detain people for more than four months without judicial review. On Thursday Mahdi, who heads the major opposition Umma party, appeared before prosecutors for questioning after he reportedly accused a counter-insurgency unit of rape and other abuses of civilians in the war-torn Darfur region.
Mahdi's detention comes as Umma and others opposition parties engage in a "national dialogue" with President Omar al-Bashir. A senior opposition politician has told AFP that Umma is a main focus of the dialogue process that might lead to a new, coalition government. The politician said Bashir is pushing for "a real change" because he realises the country is "collapsing". The security service is resisting the dialogue process, the politician said.
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