20091207

Sudan has warned the opposition over a demonstration planned for Monday outside parliament in favor of key laws on elections and a referendum on independence for south Sudan.

"The parties must ask permission to stage a protest, but they have only warned us of their intention to do so," senior police officer Mohammed Babikir said on state television.

"The security committee for Khartoum state has met and decided that the protest is illegal. Whoever takes part in this demonstration will be breaking the law," he added.

Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) has been unable to agree with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of President Omar al-Beshir on democratic reforms ahead of elections next April and a law on the referendum in the south scheduled for January 2011.

The national vote will be the first in Sudan since 1986, three years before Beshir toppled the government in a bloodless military coup, and the fifth since independence in 1956.

Registration for the regional, legislative and presidential elections began on November 1 and was to have ended with the month, but was extended until Monday after a request from opposition parties.

Reform and changes to the law are key aspects of the 2005 peace accord that ended the African continent's longest-running civil war, between north and south.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement or CPA included provisions for a general election in 2010 and a referendum on southern independence a year later.

The SPLM and around 20 opposition groups called for a "peaceful protest" to exert pressure on the NCP.

alalam