Sudan Frees Ex-officials in Effort to End Political Impasse

Sudanese protesters take part in a rally against military rule on the anniversary of previous popular uprisings, in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP)
Sudanese protesters take part in a rally against military rule on the anniversary of previous popular uprisings, in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP)
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Sudan Frees Ex-officials in Effort to End Political Impasse

Sudanese protesters take part in a rally against military rule on the anniversary of previous popular uprisings, in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP)
Sudanese protesters take part in a rally against military rule on the anniversary of previous popular uprisings, in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP)

Sudanese authorities released two outspoken former government officials from prison, lawyers said Wednesday, part of trust-building measures amid efforts to end the country’s political impasse.

Sudan was plunged into turmoil after an October military coup upended its short-lived transition to democracy after three decades of repressive rule by former president Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir and his Islamist-backed government were removed in a popular uprising in April 2019.

Khalid Omar, a former minster of Cabinet affairs, was released late Tuesday and Mohammed al-Faki Suliman, a former member of the ruling Sovereign Council, walked free from a prison in the capital of Khartoum on Wednesday, their defense team said.

The Criminal Court in northern Khartoum rejected prosecutors' request to renew their detention pending investigations into an array of vague charges, including betrayal of the public trust, according to their lawyers.

Both Omar and Suliman had been detained along with dozens of other officials during the Oct. 25 coup and were released a month later as part of a deal between the military and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. The premier resigned in January after failing to bridge the gap between the generals and the protest movement.

The two men were rearrested in February amid a crackdown by the generals on anti-coup groups. Dozens of activists were also detained amid relentless protests against the military’s takeover.

The crackdown on protesters killed more than 90 people, mostly young men, and injured thousands, according to a Sudanese medical group.

Suliman was also deputy head of a government-run agency tasked with dismantling the legacy of Bashir’s regime. The agency is known as The Committee to Dismantle the Regime of June 30, 1989, in reference to the Islamist-backed military coup that brought Bashir to power. It was created after the uprising and for two years worked to purge Bashir’s loyalists from government institutions.

The generals, including coup leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, have long criticized the work of the agency. It was dismantled after the coup and the generals appointed another committee to review its decisions. Many of the agency’s decision were reversed, measures seen by critics of the military as a way to enable figures allied with the generals.

Other members of The Committee to Dismantle the Regime of June 30, 1989, including Wagdi Saleh, Taha Osman and Babiker Faisal were also released Wednesday, their defense team said.

Earlier this month, authorities freed over two dozen activists who were detained in recent weeks over the anti-coup protests.

The military’s takeover has plunged the country into turmoil and sent its already fragile economy into free fall, with living conditions rapidly deteriorating.

The UN envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, warned in March that Sudan was heading for "an economic and security collapse" unless it addresses the political paralysis. Perthes’ comments to the UN Security Council angered the generals and Burhan threatened to expel him.

Perthes is now leading joint efforts with the African Union and the eight-nation east African regional group called the Intergovernmental Authority in Development to facilitate Sudanese-led political talks. Perthes and the two organizations' envoys held a joint news conference Wednesday in Khartoum on their efforts.

Ismael Wais, IGAD special envoy to Sudan, welcomed the releases as a "very positive development." He urged authorities to free all political prisoners and activists and lift the state of emergency as a necessary condition to help facilitate reaching an agreement on a way out of the crisis.

Mohamed Al Hacen Ould Lebatt, the AU’s envoy for Sudan, said the group will launch a political dialogue after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan early in May.

He said the talks will include the military and other political parties and groups except al-Bashir’s now dissolved Congress Party, with the aim of agreeing on how the country will be ruled during the rest of transitional period and holding elections.

"The situation in this country is highly sensitive if it is not extremely dangerous," Lebatt said, adding that the talks eventually aim at "achieving the aspiration of the Sudanese people expressed in their revolution."

There was no immediate comment from the two main protest groups, the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Resistance Committees, which have spearheaded the uprising against Bashir and the ongoing anti-coup protests. They have long demanded the removal of the military from power and the establishment of a fully civilian government.

The generals, however, have said they will only hand over power to an elected administration. They say elections will take place in July 2023, as planned in a constitutional document governing the transitional period.



Hamas Cites Progress in Ceasefire Talks as Palestinian Death Toll Passes 62,000

18 August 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis due to the Israeli bombing and blockade on Gaza. (dpa)
18 August 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis due to the Israeli bombing and blockade on Gaza. (dpa)
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Hamas Cites Progress in Ceasefire Talks as Palestinian Death Toll Passes 62,000

18 August 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis due to the Israeli bombing and blockade on Gaza. (dpa)
18 August 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis due to the Israeli bombing and blockade on Gaza. (dpa)

Hamas said Monday it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would still need Israel's approval, as Gaza's Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from 22 months of war has passed 62,000.

US President Donald Trump meanwhile appeared to cast doubt on the long-running negotiations. “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,” he posted on his Truth Social site.

Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City and other heavy populated areas after the ceasefire talks appeared to have broken down last month, raising the possibility of a worsening of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which experts say is sliding into famine.

Plans to expand the offensive, which are in part aimed at pressuring Hamas, have sparked international outrage and infuriated many Israelis who fear for the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack that started the war. Hundreds of thousands took part in mass protests on Sunday calling for their return.

‘Extensive efforts’ to revive talks

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said mediators are “exerting extensive efforts” to revive a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest.

He spoke during a visit to Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza, which has not functioned since Israel seized the Palestinian side in May 2024. He was accompanied by Mohammad Mustafa, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which has been largely sidelined since the war began.

Abdelatty said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had joined the talks, which include senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who arrived in Cairo last week. He said they are open to other ideas, including for a comprehensive deal that would release all the hostages at once.

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, later told The Associated Press that the group had accepted the proposal introduced by the mediators, without elaborating.

An Egyptian official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said the proposal includes changes to Israel's pullback of its forces and guarantees for negotiations on a lasting ceasefire during the initial truce. The official said it is almost identical to an earlier proposal accepted by Israel, which has not yet joined the latest talks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed, and to maintain lasting security control over Gaza. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Palestinian death toll surpasses 62,000

Hamas-led fighters abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians, in the attack that ignited the war. Fifty hostages are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.

The Gaza Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war had climbed to 62,004, with another 156,230 people wounded. It does not say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. Israel disputes its toll but has not provided its own.

The ministry said 1,965 people have been killed while seeking humanitarian aid since May, either in the chaos around UN convoys or while heading to sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor.

Witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired toward crowds of people seeking aid. Israel says it has only fired warning shots at people who approached its forces. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired into the air on rare occasions to prevent deadly crowding.

More deaths linked to malnutrition

Experts have warned that Israel's ongoing offensive is pushing Gaza toward famine, even after it eased a complete 2 1/2-month blockade on the territory in May. The Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that five more people, including two children, died of malnutrition-related causes.

It says at least 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began, and 151 adults have died since the ministry started tracking adult malnutrition deaths in June.

Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of “carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation."

Israel has rejected such allegations, saying it allows in enough food and accusing the UN of failing to promptly deliver it. UN agencies say they are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in the territory, around three-quarters of which is now controlled by Israel.