Ex-PM Mahdi accuses Sudanese forces of abuses in Darfur

A former prime minister and opposition leader in Sudan has appeared before prosecutors for questioning on Thursday after he reportedly accused a counter-insurgency unit of rape and other abuses of civilians in Darfur.

The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) filed a criminal complaint against Umma Party leader Sadiq al-Mahdi after he made the allegations against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Mahdi, who served as prime minister for a year in 1966 and again between 1986 and 1989, arrived with several lawyers and about 100 supporters before spending close to 40 minutes with prosecutors, an AFP journalist said.

Mahdi was questioned but has not been formally charged pending further investigation, one of his lawyers, Nabil Adieb, told AFP.

The NISS, which has authority over the RSF, accuses Mahdi of distorting the image of the forces, threatening public peace, undermining the prestige of the state and inciting the international community against Sudan, newspapers reported.

The NISS complaint against Mahdi comes as his party and others engage in a "national dialogue" with President Omar al-Bashir aimed at forging a path to improve severe political and economic issues facing Sudan.

A senior opposition politician has told AFP the process might lead to a new, coalition government and that Bashir is pushing for "a real change" because he realises the country is "collapsing".

A recent report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says fighting has intensified between government and rebel forces in the South Kordofan region, a conflict that has been going for three years and affected more than a million people.

Fighting “intensified in April-May” since a government announcement stated a campaign against the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) would continue.

“The recent offensive by the Sudanese Armed Forces supported by the Rapid Support Force – a government-affiliated paramilitary force – on SPLM-N areas over the past few weeks has resulted in a number of civilian casualties and repeated massive civilian displacement,” OCHA said in a statement on 11 May.

OCHA say the SPLM-N has reported an estimated 90,000 people have displaced in South Kordofan over the past month, adding to the 800,000 already displaced or severely affected in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions under their control.

The UN said they have no access to rebel controlled areas and cannot verify the figures, “let alone reach affected people with assistance”, as the total impacted by the war surpasses 1.2 million according to OCHA.

Opposition figures have said the security services are resisting engagement with the national dialogue process, according to the AFP.

At a news conference in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday, commanders of the RSF denied former prime minister Mahdi’s allegations that they have looted, raped and committed arson.

"All the allegations against us are lies," an angry Mohammed Hamdan Dalgo, the unit's field commander, shouted.

Mahdi's government was overthrown in the 1989 coup which brought current president Omar al-Bashir to power.

Bashir and Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, which led to the deaths of up to 300,000 people and led to 2.7 million people fleeing their homes according to the UN.