New Sudan Opposition Alliance Formed

Local Editor

Sudanese opposition parties and rebels meeting in Addis Ababa agreed to form a new alliance Wednesday, one of the groups said, urging the creation of a transitional government in Khartoum.

The agreement is the first to include as wide a range of political parties and armed groups as it does, working together against the 25-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir.

An alliance of insurgents from the war-torn Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur regions known as the Sudan Revolutionary Front signed the agreement with the opposition Umma Party, a grouping of smaller parties and civil society groups, the SRF said.

"The SRF, Sudanese political forces and civil society organisations signed the Sudan's Call today in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa," said Nur al-Daim Mohamed, a spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army-Minnawi.

The document said the groups wanted a "transitional government to manage the interim term" before a new government could be elected.

Unlike previous agreements, it did not call for the overthrow of Bashir.
The document was signed by Umma Party head Sadiq al-Mahdi, Darfur rebel commander Minni Arku Minnawi, and Farouk Abu Issa, head of the opposition grouping.

Bashir seized power in a 1989 coup and won a 2010 election largely boycotted by the opposition. He said last month he would stand for reelection for his National Congress Party in April.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team