Politician Yousif Al-Kodaa is welcomed by his family after his release from Kober Prison in Khartoum, in this April 2, 2013 file photo.

KHARTOUM: Sudanese state security agents have arrested seven more members of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party, following its leader’s detention last month, a senior party official said on Tuesday.

“One of our members was arrested early today in Khartoum,” the party’s secretary general Abdelqayum Awad told AFP.

This is in addition to six other members held since June 11 in the West Kordofan town of En Nahud, he said. Among those held is the party’s secretary general for that area.

A journalist for Al-Jarida newspaper was detained with them and all are being held under “emergency” provisions in force in the state, where rebels are active, Awad added. The top leader of Sudanese Congress, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, was arrested at his home in En Nahud on June 8.

Authorities accused Sheikh of treason-related offenses after he criticized the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and protested against politically motivated arrests.

The RSF have denied accusations that they attacked villages in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, of the opposition Reform Now party, has called for the government to free Sheikh and other activists before a national dialogue can resume.

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