Sudanese authorities yesterday arrested the head of Sudan’s Opposition Congress Party, a party official said, a number of weeks after the arrest of another Opposition leader, Sadiq al-Mahdi, sparked violent anti-government protests.

The arrests are likely to hurt national dialogue talks that were called by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in order to ease tension among Sudan’s political parties ahead of parliamentary and presidential polls due next year.

Opposition parties in Sudan have voiced concern about the government’s mismanagement of Darfur, accusing it of killing civilians during a recent surge of violence in the region.

Police forces detained the party leader for participating in a political lecture

Western diplomats and Sudanese security sources estimate that thousands have been killed in clashes between militias supporting and opposing the government in Darfur since March.

“The police forces detained our party head Ibrahim al-Sheikh for participating in a political lecture yesterday night,” the Congress Party’s General Secretary Abdel Kayoum Awad told Reuters.

Awad said that he prosecution has charged Sheikh with undermining the constitutional order by spreading “harmful lies” after he blamed the government for the recent violence in Darfur in a speech on Saturday.

Sudan has been witnessing a wave of small yet frequent youth protests since March.