Sudan's forces arrest prominent political leaders

Sudanese security forces arrested a number of prominent party leaders who were on their way to deliver a petition to the presidential palace calling for a change in government, a leading member of the largest opposition party said.

Those arrested included Mohamed Mokhtar al-Khatib, the general-secretary of the Communist Party and three leading members of the Umma Party, said Rabah Sadiq al-Mahdi, daughter of opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi who heads the Umma Party.