Sudan political dialogue at 'dead end', says opposition chief

Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani (C), head of the Reform party, in Khartoum on January 27, 2014. By Ebrahim Hamid (AFP/File)

Khartoum (AFP) - A Sudanese political dialogue aimed at resolving multiple crises in the impoverished, war-ravaged nation is dead, an opposition leader who initially joined the process said on Tuesday.

"Our politburo has declared that the national dialogue has reached a dead end and we should look for a more credible alternative," Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, head of the Reform Now party, told AFP.

"In the coming days, we will work with other political forces to hammer out such an alternative."

President Omar al-Bashir appealed this year for a broad political dialogue, including with the country's ethnic insurgents fighting in Darfur, the Kordofan region and Blue Nile state.

In April he held a preparatory meeting which included the main opposition parties of Popular Congress, led by veteran Islamist Hassan al-Turabi; the Umma party of Sadiq al-Mahdi who was overthrown by Bashir; and Atabani's Reform Now.

But the arrest of political figures, continued press censorship, and other actions raised questions about the government's commitment to reform despite talk of improved freedoms.

State security agents arrested Mahdi and held him for one month until mid-June after he reportedly accused a paramilitary unit of abusing civilians in war-torn Darfur.

Although Mahdi was freed, Atabani said in June that his and other parties decided the national dialogue could not resume unless other activists, including Sudanese Congress Party leader Ibrahim al-Sheikh, were also released.

In addition, they called for the Al-Saiha daily newspaper to be able to resume publishing.

Sheikh remains in custody, along with other members of his party. Al-Saiha returned to the streets on Sunday but then was banned again.

Atabani, a former adviser to Bashir, started Reform Now after the ruling National Congress Party expelled him last year for dissent.