Sudan: head of former ruling party released from prison

Former Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour speaks to the press following a meeting with his Qatari counterpart in Khartoum, on 10 March 2018. [ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images]

The head of Sudan’s former ruling National Congress Party, Ibrahim Ghandour, was released from prison yesterday, Anadolu has reported. Ghandour was foreign minister under deposed President Omar Al-Bashir.

The senior official was detained on 29 June last year along with other Bashir aides accused of planning to foil the revolution.

“I am calling for a comprehensive national reconciliation,” said Ghandour after his release. “The current political crisis in the country needs dialogue and reconciliation among all of the political components.”

Sudan has been witnessing protests and chaos since 25 October, when the army dissolved the transition, sovereign and ministerial councils. The transitional period since Bashir’s ouster in August 2019 was planned to end in 2024.

Anadolu reported a Sudanese newspaper as saying that several other officials from the National Congress Party have also been released. However, it added that the news could not be confirmed by other sources.

Ghandour served as an aide to Al Bashir between 2013 and 2015, and was foreign minister between 2015 and 2018.

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