In addition to the information on political developments in Sudan already available at your Regional Documentation Centre, please find attached several documents that provide recent information on the situation of the political opposition in that country. Please note that some of the documents refer to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which the Umma party is a member, without specific references to the Umma party.

The attached documents mention the detention of some Umma party figures. For a general analysis of repression patterns and specific cases of opposition members, please refer to the Africa Confidential article "The Islamic Front in Power" (attached and listed below), and the attached copy of the Africa Watch report Sudan: The Ghosts Remain (April 1992) and Sudan: A Human Rights Disaster (March 1990).

One of the attachments, however, states that the Umma party draws its support from the Ansar Muslim group and is a conservative force that has cooperated with the ruling National Islamic Front (Middle East Report Sept.- Oct. 1991, 7).

Africa Confidential [London]. 31 July 1992. Vol. 33, No. 15. "Sudan: Nothing to Celebrate." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

_____. 22 May 1992. Vol. 33, No. 10. "Sudan: Empty Words and Pyrrhic Victories." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

_____. 7 February 1992. Vol. 33, No. 3. "Sudan: Papering Over the Cracks." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

_____. 12 July 1991. Vol. 32, No. 14. "Sudan: The Islamic Front in Power." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

Africa Watch. 27 April 1992. News from Africa Watch. Vol. 4, No. 6. "Sudan - The Ghosts Remain: One Year after an Amnesty is Declared, Detention and Torture Continue Unabated." New York: Human Rights Watch.

Africa Watch. March 1990. Denying "The Honor of Living" - Sudan: A Human Rights Disaster. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 33-35, 59.

Middle East Report [Washington, D.C.]. September-October 1991. "Sudan Politics & Society: A Merip Primer."

Sudan Update [London]. 20 August 1992. Vol. 3, No. 24. "Making Way for Others?" and "Partially Free."

_____. 29 July 1992. Vol. 3, No. 22. "Changing Patterns of Detention."