Activist Held by Police, Sudan Group Says

KHARTOUM, Sudan —  Sudanese authorities detained a leading human rights activist Saturday, two days after he strongly condemned the detention of an American diplomat and seven opposition leaders, one of his assistants said.

Ghazi Suleiman, a lawyer who heads the Sudanese Human Rights Group, was taken from his house in Khartoum, the capital, by police just after midnight, said Mohammed Zein Mahi, a member of the rights group.

About 10 police officers inspected Suleiman’s house and took some documents before detaining him, said Mahi, who added that he didn’t know where the activist was taken.

On Wednesday, Sudanese authorities detained seven senior officials of the National Democratic Alliance, an organization of opposition groups, as well as U.S. diplomat Glenn Warren, who was observing an alliance meeting.

Warren was accused of discussing security issues with the dissidents, who the government said were planning an armed uprising. He was briefly detained and ordered to leave the country. He has since left Sudan.

Suleiman, a vocal critic of President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir’s government, condemned the arrests Thursday. He said security officials knew about the meeting beforehand and engineered the arrests to detract attention from “government failure and sham elections.”