E/CN.4/1995/34 page 133 arrested and detained for several hours: Abdel-Rahman al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, former army officer and son of former Prime Minister al-Sadiq al-Mahdi; Abdel-Rahman Farah, former head of security; Dr. Ibrahim el-Amin, former government minister, and Abdel-Mahmud Haj Salih, former Attorney General. Another senior member of the Umma Party, Sarah Nugdallah, Chairperson of the Women’s Committee of the party, was also reportedly arrested on 7 March and briefly detained. All five were reportedly ordered to report early each morning to the security headquarters in Khartoum where they would be held until late at night and then allowed to return home. Reports were also received according to which security officials raided the Khartoum offices of the daily newspaper Al-Sudani al-Doulia on 24 February 1994 and arrested Mutasim Mahmoud, a journalist, allegedly for engaging in anti-State activities. He was reportedly being held incommunicado in an unknown place of detention (15 March 1994). 694. Kamal Abdelwahab Nureldayem was reportedly arrested in Khartoum during the first week of March 1994 and was being held incommunicado in an unknown detention center. He was also said to have been arrested on several occasions in the past on account of his opposition to the Government. He was thought to be suffering from a serious intestinal condition and the authorities had in the recent past reportedly denied him an exit visa for medical treatment in Cairo (21 March 1994). 695. Three journalists of the daily newspaper Al-Sudani al-Doulia were reportedly arrested on 4 April 1994 in Khartoum for spreading "false news". They were identified as Ahmad Ali Bagadi, Mutwakil Abdel Daff’eh, and Mahjoub Mohamed al-Hassan Erwa, who was also a member of the Transitional National Assembly. Their whereabouts were unknown but they were believed likely to be detained at security headquarters (12 April 1994). 696. On 14 April 1994 the Government replied that the journalists had been detained for activites endangering public security and were being questioned in accordance with due process of law. They were not being subjected to any form of torture while in detention. 697. Sarah Nugdallah, a university lecturer and member of the executive and women’s committees of the Umma Party, who had been a subject of the 15 March urgent appeal by the Special Rapporteur, was arrested again on 7 April 1994. She was initially held at security headquarters but was believed to have been transferred to Omdurman women’s prison. She had been arrested on several previous occasions. Also, Abdel Rasoul al-Nur, a former governor of the Kordofan region, was detained on 9 April 1994. He was thought to be detained either at security headquarters or a secret detention centre. He had also been arrested on previous occasions, most recently from 5 April to 25 September 1993 (18 April 1994). 698. Sid Ahmad al-Hussein, a senior member of the Democratic Unionist Party, was reportedly arrested at his home in Khartoum on 20 March 1994 after he had been visited by a number of foreign persons. He was allegedly still being held in incommunicado detention (22 April 1994).