Sudan appoints opposition leaders after mediation in Ethiopia | Sudan News

Sudanese security forces arrested two opposition leaders shortly after meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during reconciliation talks in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Abiy, who has become a key regional leader, met with representatives of both parties on Friday to revive talks between Sudanese ruling leaders and rally leaders after the army launched a brutal crackdown on protesters who killed dozens of people this week.

Among the delegates of the protest movement he met were Mohamed Esmat, an opposition politician, and one of the leaders of the rebel movement of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM). -N), Ismail Jalab.

Esmat was arrested Friday shortly after meeting Abiy, while Jalab was arrested at his home early Saturday, their employees told the AFP news agency.

"A group of armed men arrived at 3 am in the vehicles and took Ismail Jalab … without giving any reason," told AFP Rashid Anwar, Jalab's badistant, who told also stated that SPLM-N spokesman Mubarak Ardol had also been arrested.

"We do not know where they are being held," he added.

Esmat and Jalab are both leading members of the Freedom and Change movement Alliance, which brings together parties and opposition groups with the organizers of mbad demonstrations that have affected the country of East Africa since last December.

The arrest of Jalab comes just days after the seizure of SPLM-N deputy leader Yasir Arman at his home in Khartoum.

The SPLM-N has provoked uprisings among non-Arab ethnic minorities in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states since 2011, when Sudanese military leaders promised to end their efforts peacefully after the overthrow of the long-time leader, Omar al-Bashir, in April.

Eric Reeves, a researcher on Sudan at Harvard University, told Al Jazeera that the latest arrests would further complicate the situation.

"The Transitional Military Council is not really serious about negotiations with civilians, it could not have been more blatant in the eyes of the opposition, and it certainly paralyzes any effort to move forward. negotiations, "said Reeves.

"The Transitional Military Council, however, has managed to achieve one thing, namely to create a division within the civilian opposition between those who will not negotiate with the Transitional Military Council under any conditions and those who will engage the TMC, but under certain conditions, confused situation, very conflictual ". Reeves added.

Ethiopian mediation

Following Abiy's visit to Sudan on Friday, his spokesman told reporters that the prime minister had approved the appointment of two emissaries to continue mediation efforts between the army and the military. demonstrators.

"The Prime Minister has invited Ambbadador Mohammad Dirdiry, on behalf of Ethiopia, to represent him as Special Envoy, as well as as Special Envoy of the African Union," he said. said Belina Thiom.

"They [the two envoys] will remain in the next two days to continue in-depth discussions with both parties and ensure that the decisions that have been confirmed today will materialize over the next few days, "added Thiom.

Upon her arrival in Khartoum, the alliance of Sudanese opposition groups and protesters declared that she had accepted Ethiopia as a mediator in the political stalemate with the Council. transition military (TMC), under certain conditions.

Among the demands of the opposition, the TMC must badume responsibility for the deadly dispersal of a sit-in protest Monday, an international investigation into the incident is open and political prisoners are released.

Mr Abiy's visit took place after the African Union (AU) suspended Sudan's membership on Thursday following the death of at least 108 people since the deadly attack sit-in on Monday. More than 500 people were injured during the raids, according to the Sudanese Central Committee of Doctors, linked to the opposition.

An official of the Ministry of Health, however, reportedly said Thursday that the death toll was 61 dead.

Al Jazeera is not able to independently confirm divergent figures after his reporters have been ordered not to report from the country.

"State of terror"

Since the deadly aggression, the people of Khartoum, frightened, have remained largely indoors, leaving the streets virtually deserted at a time when Muslims normally celebrate the holidays of Eid al-Qaeda. Fitr.

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers, who were part of the infamous Janjaweed militia unleashed during the conflict in the western region of Darfur in 2003 and 2004, remained stationed in a number of the capital's major squares.

Others were seen patrolling their branded truck with heavy machine guns or rocket launchers.

"We are living in a state of terror because of sporadic shooting," an unidentified resident of southern Khartoum told AFP.

The UN human rights office is seeking to send a surveillance team to Sudan to investigate allegations of violations during this week's military crackdown, spokesman Al Jazeera told reporters on Friday. the agency, Rupert Colville.

"We have officially asked the government to bring the UN Human Rights Monitoring Team into the country as soon as possible," said Colville.

"The rapid support force should be immediately under control because this group has a turbulent history and they seem to be at the center of this week's violence," he added.