Sudan releases 3 more political detainees

Sudanese authorities on Saturday released three political detainees held since last month's military takeover.

The freed detainees included former Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khaled Omar Youssef, Khartoum Governor Ayman Khaled Nimr, and financial commissioner of the Empowerment Removal Committee, Maher Abu Al-Goukh, the Information Ministry said in a statement.

There are no official estimates of the number of political detainees held since the Oct. 25 military takeover.

On Friday, the authorities freed five political detainees, including Fayez al-Sulaik, the former media adviser to Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Last week, Hamdok was reinstated to his post after signing a political agreement with the military. He had been placed under house arrest last month after the Sudanese military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power.

The deal ended the weeks-long crisis that threatened to undermine Sudan's political transition.

Before the military takeover on Oct. 25, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials which was overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition.