Jul 1, 2018

Authorities at Cairo airport on Sunday blocked entry for Sudan's main opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi, who has been living in exile in Egypt, his party said.

The Umma Party said security stopped former prime minister Mahdi from entering the country as he returned to Cairo after participating at an opposition conference in Berlin.

Mahdi, who has been based in Cairo, then flew to London with his daughter Mariam and an aide, his party said.

A fixture of Sudanese politics since the 1960s, Mahdi was prime minister from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989.

His government was the last one to be democratically elected in Sudan, before it was toppled by a 1989 coup launched by current President Omar al-Bashir.