By Nabil Selim
KHARTOUM
Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service said on Saturday that it would sue Sadiq al-Mahdi, the head of the National Umma Party, the largest opposition party in this country, for being involved in "anti-Sudan activities."
The service added in a statement that it had decided to sue al-Mahdi after it conducted a thorough legal assessment and acquired information and documents on the opposition leader since the signing of what is called the Paris Declaration.
The Paris Declaration is a deal signed by al-Mahdi in August with four militant Sudanese groups that fight against the government of Khartoum in eight of the country's 18 states.
The intelligence service said in its statement that signing the declaration makes al-Mahdi subject to legal questioning.
Earlier in the day, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said al-Mahdi needed to sever his links with the declaration before he managed to join a national dialogue suggested by the Sudanese president in January.
The National Umma Party pulled out of the dialogue in protest against the detention of al-Mahdi in May.
The opposition leader was, however, released a month later.
Sudan remains plagued by rifts and conflict between the army and various rebel movements – especially in the country's restive southern and western regions – along with a deteriorating economy.
Last year, what had initially appeared as a popular uprising in some parts of the country against the long-serving al-Bashir was swiftly and brutally put down by security forces.
www.aa.com.tr/en
