Ex-top Sudan official released from detention

Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman, the youngest member of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, speaks during an interview in the capital Khartoum on 21 December 2020. [EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images]

Former Sudanese Sovereign Council member Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman has been released from detention on bail, he told Reuters by phone today.

Suleiman, along with several other top civilian politicians and former officials, was arrested in February on corruption charges stemming from their work on a committee working to dismantle the country’s former regime.

Their arrests came after an October coup that ended a power-sharing arrangement between the military and the civilian coalition they represented.

Yesterday, former cabinet minister Khalid Omer Yousif was released on bail, while Suleiman and another member, Wagdi Salih, saw their detention extended on separate charges, according to lawyers. Other members of the committee were asked to pay what lawyers described as exorbitant bail.

Suleiman, however, confirmed to Reuters by phone today that he had been released.

Military leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan had hinted at releasing the men as a trust-building move, in one of several steps demanded by Western countries and political parties.

READ: Sudan releases prominent opposition figure

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