Sudan releases former industry minister

By Buhram Abdel-Men'em

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – Sudanese authorities on Tuesday released former Industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh from detention, according to his daughter.

Shaimaa al-Sheikh said on Facebook that her father “is at home with his family”.

The release came shortly after the Sudanese authorities freed Wajdi Saleh, a member of the Empowerment Removal Committee.

The pair had been detained on Oct. 25 after the military dissolved the government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, amid rival protests in the country.

Hamdok was reinstated on Nov. 21 under a political agreement with Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the ruling military council, to end a weeks-long crisis that threatened to undermine Sudan’s transition to democracy.

According to local media, around 20 political detainees have been released by the authorities since the signing of the deal.

Before the military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials which was overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara