Sudan orders release of opposition leader

KHARTOUM - Sudan has authorised the release of Mubarak al-Fadil, a high-profile opposition leader detained for more than four months, defence lawyers said on Sunday.

Fadil was among 28 former army, police and security officers and other opposition politicians arrested in July accused of trying to overthrow the government. Their trial was due to start on Sunday but was postponed.

The attorney general issued an order to release Mubarak al-Fadil at the earliest time possible," said one defence lawyer Muez Hadra.

He said the details of the order or the reason behind it were not yet clear, but added: "The Justice Minister has the power to issues such procedures."

Another lawyer confirmed the release order saying the ministry would be sending the file for the other accused back to the court.

Fadil is the leader of the opposition Umma Party for Renewal and Reform and the cousin of former Prime Minister Sadig al-Mahdi.

Ali Mahmoud Hassanein, the deputy secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Unionist Party is also under arrest as is Fadil's secretary-general Abdel Jalil al-Basha.

Hadra said the case against all of the accused was weak.

"We are waiting to see the text of the order so we can comment on this legally," he added.

When the group were charged last month, an Umma spokesman said the case against them was politically motivated and a tactic to keep them out of circulation as long as possible.

The Umma party won the last democratic elections in Sudan and formed a coalition government with the DUP before being overthrown in a bloodless coup in 1989 and replaced by current President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Opposition groups say they have come under increasing scrutiny from authorities ahead of Sudan's next democratic elections, due in 2009.

Amnesty International said some of the detainees had been tortured in custody, an accusation the government denied.