Sudan’s main opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi has called for President Omar al-Bashir to step down, throwing his support behind anti-government demonstrators after weeks of deadly protest.
Speaking today to hundreds of worshippers at a mosque in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital Khartoum, which has seen near daily anti-government protests, Mahdi said the present regime has to go immediately.
Mahdi said that since the protests erupted on December 19, “more than 50 people have been killed” in violence during the demonstrations. Officials say 30 people have died in the protests, while rights groups have put the death toll at more than 40.
Mahdi is the leader of the opposition Umma Party whose government was toppled by Bashir in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989. After nearly a year in exile, he returned to Sudan last month on the same day protests began.
Mahdi said his party has signed a document with the Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA) that is leading the campaign against Bashir’s government. While condemning the violence and use of “live ammunition” against protesters, Mahdi said his party and the SPA will together hold peaceful demonstrations in and outside of Sudan.
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