Sudanese politicians released after beginning hunger strike

CAIRO (Reuters) – Sudan’s former minister of cabinet affairs Khalid Omer Yousif was released from detention along with others less than a day after beginning a hunger strike, the country’s information ministry said in a statement early on Saturday.

An army takeover on Oct. 25 halted a power sharing deal between the military and civilians from the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance, and a number of ministers and top civilian officials were detained. Also released on Saturday were former Khartoum State governor Ayman Nimir and anti-corruption taskforce member Maher Abouljokh. Several high profile politicians remain in custody.

Yousif and others had began the hunger strike, according to the Sudanese Congress Party, to protest their continued detention despite the signing of a deal between military leaders and civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok which provided for the release of all civilian detainees. Several other prominent civilian politicians and activists had been released on Monday and Friday.

Protests calling for the military to exit politics and be held to account for the deaths of civilian protesters have continued since the announcement of the deal between military leaders and Hamdok. A call has been issued for more mass rallies on Sunday.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said late on Friday that 63 people had been injured during the dispersal of protests on Thursday, including one by gunshot wound in the city of Bahri.