Sudanese ex-minister released from detention after hunger strike

CAIRO, Nov 27 Reuters - Sudan's former minister of cabinet affairs Khalid Omer Yousif was released from detention less than a day after beginning a hunger strike, the country's information ministry said in a statement early on Saturday.

A power sharing deal between the Forces of Freedom and Change FFC alliance was halted on October 25 by an army takeover, and a number of ministers and top civilian officials were detained.

Ayman Nimir and Maher Abouljokh were also released on Saturday, as well as former Khartoum State governor.

According to the Sudanese Congress Party, Yousif and others had started a hunger strike to protest their continued detention despite the signing of a deal between military leaders and civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, which provided for the release of all civilian prisoners. Several prominent civilian politicians and activists were released on Monday and Friday.

Since the deal was reached between Hamdok and military leaders, protesters have been calling for the military to leave politics and be held accountable for the deaths of civilian protesters. More mass rallies were planned on Sunday, as a result of a call.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said late on Friday that 63 people had been injured during the dispersal of protests on Thursday, including one by a gunshot wound in the city of Bahri.