Amnesty International is concerned at the reported arrest of a number of members of the Ansar sect and Umma Party since early April 1993, in violation of their right to freedom of expression and association. AI has received reports that Mohamed al-Mahdi, Imam of the Wad Nubawi mosque, Abdel Mahmud Abbo, Imam of the Guba mosque, and Abdullah Ishaq, director of religious guidance in the Ansar Affairs office, were arrested on 29 April 1993. These arrests are believed to be related to the circulation of a speech, originally made by Sadiq al-Mahdi in Omdurman in late-March, which called for the return of multi-party democracy. Abdul Rasoul al-Nur Ismael, arrested with Sadiq al-Mahdi on 5 April but then released, has reportedly been rearrested.
