Prisons Emptied of Rebels in Sudan as Military Rulers Make Nice

(Bloomberg) -- Sudan's military rulers freed more than 230 rebels from prison, state media said, as they seek to end insurgencies that have wracked parts of Africa's third-largest country for years.

Images broadcast by state-run Sudan TV on Thursday showed dozens of men emerging from Alhuda prison in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital, Khartoum. The military council late Wednesday pledged to release members of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minawi, who'd been fighting ex-President Omar al-Bashir's forces in the western region of Darfur for more than a decade.

The military, which overthrew leader Bashir in April after mass protests, is under pressure to deliver democracy to a country that knew nothing but authoritarianism during his three decades in charge. A sweeping crackdown by security forces left more than 100 demonstrators dead in early June, drawing international condemnation and heightening demands for an immediate transition to civilian rule.

Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during the Darfur war, also faced rebellions in the southern border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Exiled officials from one rebel group who made a historic return to Khartoum in May were later arrested and deported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mohammed Alamin in Khartoum at malamin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Paul Abelsky

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.